


get this party started, right

by 002peach



Series: tdp modern day AU [1]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Gen, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-08 11:54:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21475603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/002peach/pseuds/002peach
Summary: Party promoter Soren asks Callum to come out one Friday night, and to bring a friend- hijinks ensue. Modern day AU.
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Series: tdp modern day AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1564945
Comments: 47
Kudos: 163





	1. Chapter 1

It was the Friday afternoon after midterms were finally over, and the only thing on Callum’s mind was getting home as soon as possible. He had a new sketchbook he could crack open and start on, Ezran would probably be down to play a couple rounds of Mario Kart, he could lie down on his beautiful, soft, sweet bed-

“All indoor activities, basically.” Callum deadpanned to Soren, currently holding him hostage outside his last class of the day, trapping him against the wall.

“Okay but dude, you  _ saw  _ the invite. I know you read that DM.” Soren responded, clearly indignant. He was right- Callum  _ did  _ see it, and chose not to respond hoping Soren would get the hint, so really, this was kind of his fault for assuming Soren was even capable of taking hints.

“Soren, you know I’m only in the 10th grade, right?” 

“Not even a problem dude. Yours truly’s talents and services don’t just extend to promoting-“

“You’re the  _ bouncer  _ too?”

“That’s called a hustle, my friend. Might do you some good to come out tonight to watch and learn.”

Callum rolled his eyes. He’s always had something of an odd relationship with his neighbor Soren. He was really much closer to his sister Claudia- they were closer in age, and they’ve always bonded over their more book-ish interests (and a childhood crush he really did not like talking about). Callum knew though, however close they might be, Claudia’s number one best friend has, and always will be, Soren- wherever she was, there he was not far behind. So it was kind of inevitable that Callum and Soren would eventually end up being friends as well despite their differences (and believe him, there were many,  _ many  _ differences). 

He hadn’t been seeing much of Soren lately however- not since he started his lucrative new job as a party promoter for a club with a name Callum was profoundly uncomfortable saying out loud. He didn’t really entirely understand the logistics of the job and he wasn’t too sure Soren did either, but he  _ did  _ know attendance was pretty important for these things, and basically the entire point of his job. So he here was, Friday afternoon, dreams of sitting down at home on his bed, staying put vanishing into thin air right before him while Soren attempted to coerce him into doing the complete opposite: standing around at some stranger’s house party.

“Why isn’t this party at your weird club?”

“Club’s rented out for the night- but the owner’s got this sweet house that can fit a ton of people.” Soren’s face shifted then into a mild layer of desperation hidden underneath his characteristic smugness. “It’d honestly be too easy to hide in there with how huge it is.”

Despite being the decade long headache he was, Callum wasn’t much to put up a fight against Soren when he was like this- clearly trying to not break his cool facade, but really,  _ really  _ not doing a great job of it. “Okay, I can…stop by.  _ Maybe _ . Don’t get too-“

“ _ Sweet!  _ Doors open at 8. It’s $20 for guys before 10 but for you, my friend- $15.” With that generous gesture, Soren turned around smoothly and triumphantly and Callum was finally free to head home and sulk until 8:00 before Soren caught his attention again, quickly turning around.

“Oh, invite that foreign chick you’re always hanging around too, girls get in for free!”

“She’s  _ Scottish _ , Soren, and she has a name.” Soren was already disappearing down the hall however, no doubt patting himself on the back for a job well done, nary a care in the world regarding the peaceful evening he ruined for Callum- and the now semi-awkward position he’s put him in. 

“Is Rayla...even into things like that?”

—- 

He contemplated this question some more once he was home, lying in bed with his thumb hovering over his text message screen. Rayla was a new-ish student in school, having just started this year, fresh from a tiny town in Scotland Callum was always forgetting the name of, but was a little too scared to ask again. Their homeroom teacher decided Callum was the perfect student for the job of introducing Rayla to the school and getting her settled in, likely because his step-dad was the principal of Katolis High, though Callum liked to think he was just kind of a personable guy, too. 

That theory was tested for a bit when Rayla seemed to almost want nothing to do with him- they took a quick walk around the quad and when he asked her if she had any questions, she brushed him off with a stern and heavily accented “no” and walked off to her next class. 

She had waltzed right into the wrong classroom in the complete opposite direction of their shared math class, and Callum knew then that he could not, in good conscience, leave her alone quite yet. Luckily after that rocky first day, the two ended up getting along quite well instead. Turned out, Rayla was just kind of shy (not that she actually admitted this, but this was Callum’s very educated guess). 

She also managed to figure out her entire class schedule fairly quickly after that first day, but she stuck around Callum anyway. They shared most of their classes together, so it made sense for them to just keep walking back and forth together. They shared a lunch period, so it made sense to walk to the cafeteria together too- and sit at the same table, share notes, phone numbers- 

They were friends now. He didn’t entirely know why he didn’t entirely realize that until Soren pointed it out- it had only been about three months, but Rayla was now maybe the person he hung around with the most at school. They joked around, he liked asking her about her home in Scotland, they liked talking about their interests, different as they may be- _ duh _ , they were friends. 

But were they  _ friend friends _ ? Like,  _ invite you to my neighbor’s weirdo boss’ strange house party on a Friday night  _ friends? Callum had never met with Rayla outside of school, and neither of them were particularly good texters, other than to compare notes and maybe send a meme or video here and there. It was simply an area of their friendship they hadn’t breached, and if he was being honest, he wasn’t sure if he was thinking about that too hard. For as well as they got along in school, Rayla was quite private about her life outside of it, aside from amusing and harmless stories from her hometown, and it didn’t seem there was much Callum could do about that. He figured he understood. He didn’t have any secrets per say, but he wasn’t exactly the type to overshare too much either. 

So coming out of the blue suddenly, texting her randomly when they almost never did, to invite her to a  _ party- Soren’s  _ party- 

“Are you okay?” Callum’s head whipped around to turn towards Ezran standing in his doorway.

“You’re making that scrunched up face Dad said wasn’t good for you.”

“Oh, well. Just keep that between us I guess.” Callum sat up on his bed to better face his brother who came to sit beside him.

“Are you worried about something?”

“No...not worried. Just- I gotta go to this thing for Soren.”

Ezran’s eyes widened and his voice dropped to a whisper. “You mean a party at-“

“ _ Don’t  _ say the name of that club in this house, and no, it’s at...the owner of that club’s house.” 

“Isn’t that kind of worse?” Ezran asked. Their pet Bait waddled in right after, twenty pounds of French Bulldog coming to perch on Ezran’s lap. 

“It really is, isn’t it? You’re right, this is a terrible idea, I will in fact be staying right where I’m at for the rest of the weekend, thank you Ez.” Callum thought Bait might have shot him a mildly judgemental look, but he pointedly ignored it.

“Well…maybe it could be fun?” Ezran said, to which Callum responded with a look of dawning horror, but Ezran continued on. “I mean, I don’t think Soren would put you in a dangerous situation, right? And maybe he needs your help, ‘cause people spend money to get in those parties, don’t they?” 

“My God, don’t remind me.”

“I mean, dad’s not home.” Callum’s eyebrows shot up a bit at this. “And you’ve got a car now. And you’d be helping out our friend. And-“

“Do you hate me? Is that what’s happening here? You’re fed up with me beating you at Mario Kart and-“

“You, me and Bait all know from the scoreboards that’s not true, but I mean that I think it could be fun to try something new! Maybe you’ll make new friends.”  _ Speaking of which… _

Ezran, ever the annoyingly observant, glanced down at Callum’s thumb still stiff over his phone screen. “Are you gonna bring a friend?” Callum’s entire body stiffened at this. “I, uh, am in the process of maybe, doing. That.”

“Like a da-“

“Like the  _ complete  _ opposite. Like. ‘I’m not even sure this person will want to go’ opposite.”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out.” Ezran cheerfully smiled, ever annoying observant  _ and  _ optimistic. There was no way to weasel his way out of this with Ezran staring at him and his phone so expectantly now, so Callum began reluctantly texting.

**Callum (4:32 p.m.): ** Hey Rayla. ( _ Okay, good start. _ )

**Rayla (4:33 p.m.): ** hey. what’s up?

Ezran nudged Callum’s hesitant hand. “Uh, privacy?”

“Just say, ‘do you want to come to my friend’s party with me today?’”, Ezran helpfully responded.  _ How nice it must be to be so young and naive. _ Callum raised his phone slightly higher to dissuade Ezran from peeping, though the half-hearted gesture didn’t do much once he not-so-conspicuously raised his head higher.

**Callum (4:36 p.m.): ** You know my friend Soren, right?

**Rayla (4:37 p.m.): ** that dumb guy from school?

He contemplated defending Soren’s honor, but decided at the end that beggars couldn’t be choosers.

**Callum (4:38 p.m.): ** He’s having a get together tonight, and he asked me to invite you. Would you wanna go?

He cringed a little at his use of “get together” used in the perhaps the loosest sense of the term, but this was maybe the best word to use to jot that spot between “I’m uncomfortably asking you out” and “I need literally anyone to come with me to some stranger’s house.” He thought he might have felt Ezran give him a supportive pat on the back, but he pointedly ignored this as he patiently (and not nervously at all) waited for her answer.

**Rayla (4:45 p.m.): ** not really one for parties, sorry

“Aw well, at least she’s honest.” Ezran said, definitely giving him a brotherly pat on the back now. Callum groaned. “I just know I’m never gonna hear of this now from Soren. Maybe Claudia might be willing-“ he was cut off then by the sound of an incoming text.

**Rayla (4:47 p.m.): ** actually think i might be down. what time? ( _ Huh. _ )

**Callum (4:47 p.m.): ** 8:00 PM, I can pick you up if you want?

**Rayla (4:51 p.m.): ** sounds good. let me know when you’re on your way

With that, Rayla sent her address, and Callum had plans for the night. “You’ll have fun.” Ezran said, extending that brotherly pat to Callum’s shoulder. He couldn’t help but feel a little pathetic that his ten year old brother was assuring him he wouldn’t hate being outside the house on a Friday night, so he instead thought,  _ maybe this will be good for me. I could have fun.  _

He glanced down at his phone and smiled a little. “Yeah, it’ll probably be fine.” Before he could talk himself out of it again, another thought struck him.

“What are we gonna do about you, though?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was listening to the Hot Brown Morning Potion podcast one night when the question “who would throw a party and who would try to stop it” came up. Inspiration struck!
> 
> I have a good chunk of this written up already, so it’ll likely be about 5-6 chapters, and it’ll only get dumber from here but that’s the fun of it
> 
> As a tiny note also- this is tagged as Callum/Rayla but it leans a little more on the friendship side with hints of something more (which is how I personally kinda ship them anyway haha) just wanted to put out there real quick so as not to be too misleading- think more... romantic friendship than full blown romance with this lol
> 
> Thank you for reading! 🤠


	2. Chapter 2

“Claudia said she’ll be here soon, and dad just messaged me saying he’s not gonna be home until late tonight. Probably 11:00, 12:00 maybe?”

“You know, it is very interesting how excited you seem to be about not having me around for the night.” Ezran let out a little laugh, with Bait in his arms huffing indignantly in his defense. 

“I just think you’re doing a nice favor for Soren, and it’s good you have your friend there too so you can stay safe. Is she gonna come over too?”

“Er, probably not.”

“Is she nice?”

“She’s cool.” Ezran and Bait’s attentive gazes stayed steady on him. “She’s from Scotland?”

“That’s so cool!” There was a knock on the front door, but something in Ezran’s smile and tone couldn’t be ignored any longer. 

“You know, I  _ have  _ friends.”

“I never said you didn’t!”

“I know! I just feel like-“ A second, harder knock on the door interrupted Callum, who hastily opened the door, letting Claudia in.

“Callum! Ezran! It’s been a while!”

“24 hours, but that could be considered a while I guess.” Callum smiled. Bait scampered out of Ezran’s arms to soak up Claudia’s attention, which she more than happily obliged. 

“Thanks again for coming over to watch Ezran, we really appreciate it.”

“Ah, it’s no problem! I know Soren’s really been gunning for you to come, he’s been talking about it non-stop all week! It should be a ton of fun!”

“Have you gone to one of his parties before?” Ezran chimed in.

“Oh my God, Ezran NO, could you even  _ IMAGINE _ ? Have you  _ SEEN _ the pictures on Soren’s Instagram? They’re just-“

“Okay  _ thank you,  _ Claudia.” Callum cut in.

“Well, Callum’s going with a friend, so I think he should be okay.” Ezran announced, barely suppressing the pride in his voice. Claudia’s head whipped around facing Callum at this, an enormous smile on her face.  _ Oh god. _

“Callum, that’s awesome! What’s their name? What are they like? Are they good in school, where do they live, what do they-“

“Why do you both act like I don’t have any friends?! This seriously is  _ nowhere  _ near as big a deal as you guys are making it out to be.” 

Claudia shrugged, her smile shifting into something more knowing. “Well I don’t know if  _ we’re _ the ones making a big deal out of it. And besides, you do have to kind of admit, you don’t...go out too often. Not without Ezran or me, anyway. Or your step-dad. Or your aunt. Or-“

“Again, thank you. The short and sweet of it is that I’m going with a friend from school, we’ll try not to get caught up in whatever it is that’s got you so scared on Instagram, and I should be home by 10:00 the latest. I left some money on the table for food or anything else.”

Claudia swung a confident arm over his shoulder. “Callum, Callum, Callum, don’t even  _ worry  _ about that. I’ve got this so covered you wouldn’t even  _ believe _ . My dad let me back in the kitchen last Sunday- only  _ one  _ incident not even worth mentioning at all. It’s like you’ve never  _ seen  _ me like this before, that’s how covered I got this.” 

“Oh that’s great, thank you Claudia.” Callum replied, slipping a $10 bill behind his back to Ezran for pizza. With that, he gave Ezran a good ruffle on the hair and stepped out the door, bidding the two good bye. The wide smiles on their faces were so achingly sincere that Callum couldn’t find it in himself to be  _ too  _ annoyed over them. 

But he couldn’t quite shake the vaguely pitiful feeling in the back of his mind either, that it was such an  _ event  _ that he was leaving the house. He wasn’t lying when he said he had friends- maybe he just liked hanging out with his aunt and brother more than those friends on a Friday night!

“What’s wrong with that?!” Callum uttered out loud alone in his car. It did not do much to wave off that feeling. So instead he just sighed, put it all in the back of his mind, and typed in the GPS coordinates to Rayla’s place on his phone. 

—-

He only waited a couple of minutes parked outside an apartment complex before Rayla walked out the front gate. She wasn’t dressed too differently from how she dressed at school- just jeans and a crewneck sweater. This was a strange relief to Callum, for whatever reason. 

“Hey.” Callum greeted when she entered the car. She gave him a smile in response, which helped calm his nerves, and she then immediately dashed that half second of cheerfulness with “So what’s all this about?”

“This all…”

“You said Soren invited me but I barely even talk to him. What gives?”

“Well, I mean he’s a friendly guy…”

“No he’s not.”

“How would you even know! You just said you don’t talk to him!”

“I’m a very good judge of character.” She pointed to her head. “My intuition never fails me. And something’s telling me there’s more to this story than you’re saying.”

He wanted nothing more to argue against this claim but she was unfortunately right. “Well I mean, it’s not even like a big  _ deal _ or anything...Soren, hardworking guy he is, just needs to fulfill a minimum requirement of guests for a gathering to-“

“Oh is he a party promoter or something?” Rayla asked, then gasped, her eyes widening. “Is he one of those guys from that one Instagram with the really weird pics of-“

“No! No.” He paused. “Yes.”

“You invited me to one of  _ those  _ parties?! I don’t know what you or Soren think but-“

“No, no, it’s okay! It’s not at that weird gross club or anything! It’s a house party, it’s supposed to be at a really nice place.”

“ _ Whose  _ nice place.”

“A...very close associate to the club.”

“Yeah, I’ll just see you on Monday.” Rayla replied bluntly, her hand already on the door handle. Callum could feel his heart drop out his stomach, but he knew he couldn’t leave it at that.

“Wait, before you go- I’m sorry. I should’ve been way more up front about that. I know it doesn’t matter now, but I swear I wasn’t trying to lead you somewhere sketchy. Soren’s a friend of mine and I know how he’s...the way he is but I do trust him, so I figured it might be okay, but. Yeah, I’m really sorry. Thanks for coming out.”

“Well...I’ll probably get over it by Monday so don’t be too sad over it. Have fun.” She responded.

“Thanks, have a good night.”

“Thanks.” 

With all farewells said, Callum was waiting for her to leave so he beat himself up in private for misleading his friend. He was a little thrown off instead when he and Rayla continued to look at one another for a solid ten seconds, her hand still on the door handle and her face completely expressionless. 

“How long are you planning on staying ‘til?”

“Uh...10:00?”

Without missing a beat, her face unchanging, she buckled her seatbelt and sat forward. “I guess it beats staying home doing nothing.” She glanced over at him. “I can’t lie, based off those photos, I’m a little worried you might die there alone.”

“Oh. Oh! Uh, thanks! I mean, just- just, you know, thanks, it’ll be fun! Nothing like those pics! Just good ol’, classic clean family friendly fun- I promise.” He flashed her what he hoped was a confident smile. 

She gave him a small smile back. “I’ll hold you to that. Just drive.”

—

The directions Soren gave him to the party were leading them down a winding road further up into the hills overlooking their city- Callum knew those houses tended to be on the more expensive side, which could mean one of two things: this could be a soiree they were woefully under-dressed for, or this could be a seedy nightmare of a lawless, mansion rager he’s seen bombastic new reports about- the kind of place public service announcements and his step-dad existed to fight against, that justified Rayla’s half-hearted worries about them dying. 

But really, there  _ was  _ no way that Soren would lead them to that kind of party, right? For all of his bone-headedness, Soren really was a good guy. And as Callum had argued before all this, he and Rayla were only in the 10th grade. He’s pretty sure if they even  _ thought  _ about doing 1/10th of the things they do in those infamous Instagram pictures with them there, everyone in that house would be arrested. But at the same time, Soren didn’t say it  _ wouldn’t _ be a problem- he just said he’d be able to get them in, so there  _ could  _ be a risk of encountering illicit activities not meant to be seen by innocent eyes, but at the  _ same  _ time, they could-

“Nice scarf.” Rayla said, and Callum almost jumped out of his seat. 

“Oh, thanks...it’s been getting cold.”

“I’m aware. Just kind of interesting party attire.” The playful tone in her voice put him at ease.

“Well, shocking as what I’m about to tell you may be, I actually don’t go out to parties too often.”

“Oh, is that so? Never would’ve seen that coming from someone who calls a party a ‘gathering’.”

“What’s that supposed to mean!”

“Just that you and my actual dad share the same vocabulary.” They turned the last sharp corner into a long stretch of a street surrounded by tall, thick trees. Pretty, if not a little foreboding as well.

“Must be a pretty cool dad then. I don’t really see you much as the party type either, you know.”

“‘Cause I’m not. But like I said, I might be the only thing keeping you from ending up on a news report tomorrow, and there was nothin’ good on TV anyway.”

Callum let out a laugh. “Well thanks for taking one for the team, I guess. I know I said we’d be leaving by 10:00, but is there any specific time your dad would want you to be home?”

Rayla seemed to stiffen slightly at this. “Ah well, I didn’t exactly tell him I’d be out...but both my parents work late, so it should be fine.”

They pulled up to a clearing where they were promptly greeted with one of the hugest houses Callum thinks he might have ever seen in his life and a sleekly dressed valet driver. He might have felt a little self-conscious about handing off his rinky-dink stick shift from the 90’s to the driver if he wasn’t so shocked by the fact that that there was even a valet driver in the first place for a  _ house _ .

“So this guy’s loaded then?” Rayla asked, eyebrows raised.

“Uh, guess so. I think he owns more than one club.” Rayla grimaced a bit at that and Callum felt for a moment he might’ve been celebrating a surefire successful night out a little too early now. The music coming from inside was pretty loud, but aside from that, it didn’t seem like anything especially illegal was taking place inside-  _ it’ll be fine,  _ Callum thought.  _ Don’t make this weird for Rayla _ .

Soren slid into view just then coming from the front door, looking sharp in all black, hair slicked back with a clipboard in his hand. Callum thought he looked surprisingly professional. Rayla didn’t seem quite as impressed. 

“Callum!- dude, you cannot be wearing that scarf.”

“What’s wrong with the scarf?!” Callum asked indignantly, clutching his favorite red scarf.

“It’s not the  _ vibe  _ bro, this party’s  _ hot _ . A scarf means you’re  _ cold _ . You seeing the contradiction here?”

“I mean, the scarf technically makes things warmer.”

“Ok, got me there, but the  _ vibes- _ “

“Are you letting us in or not?” Rayla interrupted, arms crossed.

“Hey! You brought Scotland! Tonight’s free for you, lassie.” Soren said with waggling brows.

“Don’t think I won’t knock the  _ vibes  _ out your-“ 

“ANYWAY, here’s $15, thank for inviting us, the scarf stays on, and I would love to be directed to where I can get a glass of water.”

“Kitchen’s gonna be on your right when you walk in. If you guys need anything, just come find me.” Soren punctuated with a smooth thumbs up. His voice then dropped lower. “And thanks again.”

Callum gave a small smile at this. “Don’t mention it.” He started to turn around before Soren suddenly came back around and put his arms heavily around his and Rayla’s shoulders, voice dropping even lower.

“By the way, if anyone asks- you’re both 18.” 

“Uh, my ID-“

“Not saying anyone’s  _ gonna  _ ask, they’re cool here, but just. You know. You know.”

“Do I really know?” Rayla responded skeptically, and before Soren could respond a new group of people arrived at the front door.

“Okay gotta go, uh...feel like there’s something else I wanna tell you but I don’t remember now, so must not have been important.” Soren flashed them a pair of debatably reassuring finger guns before turning his attention back to his job, leaving Callum and Rayla alone to take in the sight of the interior of the house. 

It really was nice- high ceilings, spotless varnishing on sturdy wooden floors, and minimalist, tasteful furniture positioned in a way that left a wide open space for party guests to mingle. There weren’t that many guests at all at the moment, but Callum didn’t pay too much attention to that as he immediately switched to damage control mode.

“Not trying to make excuses but I would like to point out that many 18+ events can still be considered very safe and family friendly-“

Rayla gave him a friendly shove, promptly shutting him up as he held back a tiny yelp- he’s had a feeling since knowing her that Rayla wasn’t entirely aware of her own strength. “Calm down, it’s fine. It makes sense if you think about it- I’m pretty sure all the adults here aren’t too keen on hanging around a bunch of 16 years old. Or 15 and a half- whatever you say you are.”

”¾.” Callum helpfully clarified, but Rayla was already venturing off towards the kitchen, making a beeline for the fridge. Maybe he wasn’t going to have too much to worry about tonight? If Rayla was fine, then he could be fine too, right? “Right.” Callum said aloud to himself, and again, it didn’t wave off the feeling as much as he would have liked it to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fastest update I’ve ever done in my life! I still have a bit more written up already, and it’ll all go up within a week hopefully after I take care of schoolwork and such!
> 
> Also, I realized because of my complete ignorance of driving laws, I made Callum able to drive at 15 and 3/4, so this is now an AU where the age minimum for a permit or license is 15 and 3/4. Thank u for all for understanding


	3. Chapter 3

“Oh wow.” Ezran said, taking a bite of the banana bread in front of him. Claudia sat across the table from him looking extremely pleased. They had ended up ordering a large cheese pizza to share, but Claudia insisted that she at least bake something for Ezran to show off her new skills. 

“It’s good right? My dad mentioned something to me about using measuring cup set he bought it something- I don’t really remember too well but it made me think of my chemistry class for some reason and it just clicked! They’re really not that different at all! I mean, I guess I don't really have to worry about accidentally making something like hydrochloride acid or something as much but really, I think the fact that I’ve done both is-“

“Wait, I’m sorry, could I have some more please?” Ezran asked, which Claudia more than happily obliged, filling his place again. Bait looked upon this scene from the third chair at the kitchen table enviously. “You know you’re on your diet Bait. Don’t quit now.” Bait huffed in response. 

“Do you think Callum’s having a good time right now?” Ezran asked once his second helping was finished. “Of course! Soren’s always talking about how fun those parties are, and I’m sure Callum’s friend is keeping him good company.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Ezran smiled. “I guess I just worry too much sometimes.” 

“What’s there to worry about? Callum’s so smart, he’d never get himself into any trouble.”

“I know, I guess I mean I was worried that maybe he wasn’t having fun. I think he’s shy with things like that, and I thought maybe I pushed him too much.”

Claudia waved a hand at this, resting her cheek against her other arm on the table. “Ah Ezran, you’re such a mature kid. Always worrying about your brother at such a young age- I wish I could’ve been more like that when I was a kid.” She laughed.

“Well, Callum always watches over me. I wanna do the same for him. I think he thinks I’m nosy though- I know he has friends, but I don’t know.” 

He paused, unsure, but something in Claudia’s thoughtful expression encouraged him to continue. “I have friends too in school- some, at least. But I don’t really talk to them  _ that  _ much- most of the time I’m just by myself in class. I don’t really mind too much, but it gets a little lonely sometimes. I guess I just don’t want Callum to feel that way either.”

Claudia seemed to consider his words, chewing on her fork. “I know what you mean. Not exactly as that, but I worry about Soren too a lot. I mean, you know, not that Soren’s terrible at school or anything, but he’s not like.  _ Good  _ or anything- just good enough to stay on the football team and keep his workers permit.” 

She smiled at this. “But that’s the thing, Soren’s a hard-worker. He tries hard at football  _ and  _ his weirdo club job and I really admire that about him. It might be kinda funny to think about your younger brother or sister being so worried over their older sibling but it’s really natural if you think about it. I can’t not imagine worrying over Soren- I always want him to be okay. But don’t tell him all that.” Claudia finished, a finger to her lips. “That’s our secret.”

Ezran laughed at this. “Yeah, you’re right. I know they feel the same for us, so we just have to trust them.”

“Exactly. You’re so wise beyond your years, Ezran.” Claudia said, ruffling his hair. “It’s almost a little creepy- but like in a totally adorable way.” Bait huffed indignantly at this but Ezran smiled gratefully in response.

“Where’s your dad tonight, by the way? Callum didn’t mention it to me.” Claudia asked, serving them both some more bread. 

“He’s out with my aunt, they’re probably with the rest of my aunt’s friends.” Ezran responded, plate held out at ready. “How about yours?

Claudia let out a sharp laugh. “You’re not gonna believe this, but my dad’s really been on Soren lately about his job. He thinks it’s dangerous or whatever- I mean don’t get me wrong, people should be in jail for some of those pictures on Instagram but I think a lot of them might just be for show- but my dad kinda freaked seeing them, so he said he’d be  _ chaperoning  _ tonight. Can you even believe it? My dad at a  _ party? _ ” Claudia said with a snort as Ezran chuckled. 

“I really can’t!” He said, then he paused. “Huh. I wonder if Callum has any classes with your dad, actually.”

—-

“You ok?” Rayla asked, bringing Callum’s attention back to her kneeling down looking through the fridge. 

“Yeah, I’m okay. I’m just trying to text my brother, but I have really bad reception in here.” Callum replied, waving his phone around futilely. 

Rayla handed him a water bottle and they ventured out of the relative safety of the kitchen to the larger living area that was quickly filling up. The more he looked around, the more odd the general layout of the house seemed to be- beautiful as the furniture and architecture, there was a sterile quality to it, as if it only existed to fill in space to corral party-goers into specific spots.  _ Wonder how many parties this guy must be throwing. _ He grimaced, deciding not to ponder further what sort of activities this mysterious club owner would allow in his weird party-mansion.

Callum was still fiddling with his phone, preoccupied with his thoughts when he suddenly felt Rayla pressed much closer to him, and for reasons he decided he will also  _ not  _ be thinking about at the moment, he stiffened.

“Maybe we should go to another room?” She said louder than usual- it’s gotten more crowded and the music’s gotten louder,  _ so stop being weird now Callum _ \- “or do you wanna use my phone?”

“Ah, that’s okay. I’m sure he’s fine right now anyway, he’s with a friend right now. Soren’s sister, actually.” 

“Maybe you should call him then.” Callum laughed lightly, about to defend Claudia’s honor before a heavy and swift hand on both their shoulders distracted them, turning them towards a guy that looked to be a couple of years older than them, and might have been already partying a little too hard at that point.

“You guys down for beer pong? We need another pair.”

Callum glanced at Rayla. He couldn’t read what the look on her face was exactly- apprehension? Their challenger gave her a pointedly cocky look, so Callum decided to step in- he could take whatever jabs they’d get for declining. “Oh, uh, actually-“

“Yeah, why not?” Rayla cut in suddenly, eyeing the competition over at the table.  _ Okay, wasn’t expecting that.  _ Callum shot her a questioning look but Rayla simply shot back an innocent smile as she pulled him over to the table.

“ _ Duuude,  _ we got some! Marcoooo!” The guy double-pointed over at this friend on the other side of the table who shot up a red cup in celebration. The guy pointed his fingers back at Callum and Rayla. “‘Case you guys didn’t know already, they call me the Crow Master ‘round here.”

“Oh cool. Why?” Callum asked. Crow Master’s response was to pump a fist to his chest and let out an impassioned whoop, which Callum simply accepted as an answer. 

“Wait- how old are you guys?” The guy named Marco asked suddenly, eyeing them. He didn't seem quite as gone as his friend was yet. “Uh, we’re-“

“21.” Rayla cut in again, flashing a surprisingly confident smile. “He’s just got a baby face.” Rayla added, prompting Callum to involuntarily put a self-conscious hand to his cheek.

“Oh for sure, for sure.” Marco replied, satisfied. Another couple of people came up to the table curiously, and Callum took this as an opportunity to get caught up on what exactly was happening at the moment.

“Er, can we talk ‘strategy’ for a second?” Callum said, pulling Rayla a step aside. “Okay, what are we doing?”

“Callum, relax! It’s just beer pong, you’ve never played?”

“I have!” Callum replied, neglecting to mention it was with his step-dad, aunt and ten year old brother and they had used apple juice.

“Look, I know I might’ve stretched the truth a little,”- Callum’s eyebrows raised at this but Rayla continued on- “but don’t worry! It’ll be fun! I promise.”

“I-We’ve gotta drive back, you know.” Rayla’s smile widened at this.

“I’ve got it  _ completely  _ covered. Watch.” She reassured as they turned back towards the table.

“You ready?” Crow Master asked, maybe a little too confidently. “Of course! You first.” Rayla replied. Despite his current state, Crow Master seemed to be a decent shot, with the tiny ball circling the rim of one of their cups before landing with a  _ plop!  _ Rayla grabbed the cup and downed it in a smooth gulp.  _ Huh.  _

“Okay, my turn.” Rayla said happily. Callum was trying very hard to keep a poker face throughout all this and he knew he was probably doing a very bad job of it, but Rayla just flashed him another smile before throwing the ball, watching it make the smoothest arch right into the cup on the farthest end of the table, a tiny drop of beer splashing right onto Crow Master’s face.  _ Huh. _

Crow Master took it in stride, throwing the drink back, and it continued on like this- Rayla drank two more drinks after that, while Marco began to pick up the slack for Crow Master after everyone at the table very quickly came to the realization that Rayla apparently  _ never misses _ . 

“Hey, so you’re like, a really good shot?” Callum leaned over and whispered, barely concealing how strangely impressed he was. Rayla pointed to her head again. “I’m the  _ best  _ shot.” With that, their opponents cups were quickly drained.

“Alright, alright, you’re not too bad.” Crow Master said, pretending it wasn’t hard for him to keep his head lifted up at the moment. His eyes narrowed then, a strategic plot forming in his head. “But I wanna see how  _ you  _ do.” He pointed directly at Callum, who managed not to flinch. 

“Er, Rayla-“

“Don’t know why you think that’s gonna help when he’s just gonna wipe the floor with you too.” She immediately shot back, a little  _ too  _ excited. Callum gave her a small nudge under the table. “Uh, whatever magic aiming power you have, I  _ don’t _ , so-“

“Don’t even worry about it.” Rayla whispered back at him. “Look, whatever cup you’re trying to aim at, aim at the cup behind it.” She continued, grabbing Callum’s hand to maneuver it into what he assumed what was supposed to be the optimal throwing position. For the aforementioned reasons he decided not to think about before, he suddenly felt very aware of their closeness- he knew he was probably 100% overthinking it, but part of him thought that Rayla was getting more...touchy? 

He motioned to shoot, and his shaky hands promptly shot it off the side of the table. Crow Master and Marco looked extremely pleased with these new developments. 

“Don’t be nervous.” Rayla whispered. “You’re not gonna be drinking anyway, so just loosen up.” She slapped his back, achieving the exact opposite of her advice. But this was true-, he thought, staring down at the wide expanse of the table- he wasn’t the one drinking, she was.  _ Don’t mess this up for her. _

Marco shot his ball into a cup, which Rayla swiftly threw back. Callum got into position-  _ aim for the cup behind- plop!  _ The ball landed cleanly into a cup that Marco quickly downed. The impressed clapping alerted Callum to the small crowd of spectators that had apparently gathered.

“See, I told you!” Rayla grinned widely, giving Callum an unexpected shot of confidence.  _ Huh. _

The playing level finally even, the game went on and on- Callum’s brow furrowed in concentration and he landed, missed, landed, landed, missed- Marco’s laughter and shouts of excitement started to match Crow Master’s with every drink, sweat dropping from their furrowed brows, and Rayla’s encouragement only got more and more intense until she was all but throwing Callum across the room with how hard she was slapping his back. 

But Callum really didn’t mind at all- I’m fact, it was  _ infectious.  _ It was really  _ fun.  _ They were having fun! He landed another cup and earned the hardest double high five he ever received in his life that he more than happily returned. It only grew closer and closer until a single cup on each side was left, fingers clenched around the ball while Rayla was practically crushing his other hand in anticipation as he finally took his shot-  _ plop! _ And a round of applause. Rayla grabbed his shooting hand and shot it up in the air in victory as he laughed excitedly and triumphantly-  _ Okay, maybe this is a little better than Mario Kart. _

“Okay,  _ awesome  _ game, dude.” Crow Master said, stumbling towards him. “Thanks!- _ ACH! _ ” Callum’s responded before being pulled in a bone-crushing bear hug. Marco gave Rayla a quick fist-bump and the two guys disappeared off into the now very full crowds, surely in search of more alcohol-related shenanigans. 

Rayla swung an arm around Callum’s shoulder. “Told you it’d be fun, right?” 

“You were right! How are you so good at that game?” Callum asked, taking note of the growing flush on Rayla’s cheeks- _ should I be worried _ ? But she flashed him a bright smile and for some reason, the thought left his mind.

“Ah, played with my dads before, and just with like football or rugby during the Summer and such, you get pretty okay with targets- I tried archery one Summer too, my dad wasn’t too thrilled with that one, though.” 

“That’s really-“ a vibrating sound in Callum’s pocket cut him off, and he pulled his phone out to see he had finally gotten a bar of reception, and an incoming call from Ezran. “Your brother?” Rayla asked.

“Ah yeah- it’s kinda loud here though…”

“‘S cool, go find a room you can talk- I’ll be waiting for you here.”

“Er, I don’t know.” Callum said. He didn’t want to say that he felt that he maybe shouldn’t be leaving Rayla alone. He had a feeling she wouldn’t take too kindly to the idea that she couldn’t take care of herself, and really, he didn’t think that at all- not normally anyway. There was just something in Rayla’s expression that looked a little... _ inhibited _ ? Maybe?

“Ah, go, go! I’m not a baby, and your brother needs you! I’m gonna be right here, I promise.”

“O-Okay. I’ll be  _ right back _ .” Callum emphasized, and he was off, resolving not to wander too far off. It should only take a minute anyway, and as he looked back, Rayla was already seated near the kitchen, scrolling through her phone.  _ You’re probably the one that needs to be looked after anyway _ , Callum thought. Rayla  _ did  _ she say she was here to make sure Callum doesn’t die, so she probably has herself taken care of.  _ Yeah. Yeah.  _

He turned a corner across the living room into a long stretch of a dimly-lit hallway where people seemed to be hanging around for relatively quieter conversation. There were a number of doors along the side but Callum had no clue where those doors would lead, so he figured the safest bet might be the restroom he saw further ahead. He rushed down the hall, checking to see if he still had reception. The call had gone to voicemail, but Callum still had enough bars to shoot Ezran a quick text outside the door.

**Callum (8:56 pm): ** Hey, everything ok?

**Ezran (8:56 pm): ** yeah, we’re okay! I just had a funny question!

**Ezran (8:57 pm): ** Have you seen Claudia and Soren’s dad yet?

Callum’s eyes narrowed at this. “ _ Have I seen Claudia and Soren’s dad- _ “

“What about Claudia and Soren’s dad?” responded a deep, all too familiar but not especially welcome voice that sent a sudden shudder down Callum’s back.  _ Uh. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy season 3 eve! Thank you for reading again! This is the last bit I’ve had written up already, chapter 4 is being written right now so it’ll be a little bit before the next one. I figure that’s ok since we’ll all be pretty preoccupied soon lol
> 
> This entire fic is completely self-indulgent but the beginning is especially, I just really love sibling relationships 😔 
> 
> also completely pointless anecdote- so whenever I played beer pong in the past, I would play it like one person shoots, the other drinks, so I thought that was like the actual rule of the game, until I played with another group of friends and they told me you’re actually always supposed to switch off drinking. Are there any actual agreed upon rules to this? Beer pong enthusiasts and purists weigh in on this matter please


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one’s a bit longer than the others, and very dialogue heavy. Hope that’s ok!

Callum wondered what exactly it was he did tonight to have to come face to face with- with  _ this?  _ What is for misleading Rayla at the beginning of the night? His new-found overconfidence at beer pong?  _ Message loud and clear, whoever’s doing this to me!  _ Callum eyes shot up before landing back down at Claudia and Soren’s dad- and his and Rayla’s chemistry teacher- staring back down at him, looking just as confused by the situation. 

“H-hey, Mr.-“

The “Mr.” in question cleared his throat awkwardly. “For the sake of my son’s work here, and to make this interaction perhaps more... _ relaxed,  _ you may call me by my first name- Viren.” Callum could not possibly think of a  _ less  _ relaxing thing to do.

“Mr...Viren. Uh, hi. Hey. Didn’t expect to…see...you here.”

Viren’s brows furrowed slightly. “I know I might seem out of place here, but this is technically my son’s place of employment. I am more curious as to why  _ you’re  _ here, exactly.”

“Ha! Well, crazy thing about that, uh, Soren asked me to come...to drop something off!” Viren’s brows raised slightly, and Callum pressed on against all odds.

“Yup! Just dropped off...some things…a speaker...chips...snacks…party things. And now I need to use the restroom before I leave. So.” A pause, and Callum slid into the restroom at the speed of light and shut the door before Viren could ask any questions. He whipped out his phone again and began texting so frantically, his screen could have cracked open.

**Callum (9:02 p.m.):** Would you care to explain why your DAD is at this party??? 

**Claudia (9:03 p.m.):** omg callum!! :( i thought soren would’ve told you! i honestly didn’t know until he was gone already! 

**Claudia (9:03 p.m.):** buuuuut! it’s kinda funny right?? ;-) 

**Callum (9:04 p.m.):** Yup! Wait till you hear about me hiding in this bathroom now after running into him! Hilarious! Laugh riot! 

**Claudia (9:04 p.m.):** i mean…….a little bit? 

**Claudia (9:05 p.m.):**but don’t worry, i’m gonna get you out of there! 

Outside of the door, Callum could hear a cell phone ringing, then Viren’s voice. “What’s that, Claudia? Hold on- I will call you back, I need to step outside first, it’s too loud in here.” Callum put his hands together in praise-  _ I owe you my life, Claudia.  _

Then came a knock on the door.  _ Privacy??  _

“Callum?”

“Uh yeah, still here. Just. Washing my hands.” Callum said, quickly turning the faucet on.

“So you only came to drop some items off for my son, correct?”

“Yup! Just that. Heading home right after this, yup.”

Viren sighed. “Well alright then...that’s good. I would have hated to had to have said something to your father about this.” -  _ Would you have, really. -  _ “But I suppose if it was just for that, we can keep this between the three of us.”

“Sounds good! Great even! Fantastic! Thank you Mr. Viren! Great lessons lately, by the way, learning a lot!”

“Hm...alright. I’ll see you Monday then.” And with that, his foreboding footsteps walked further and further away, and Callum finally let out the breath he was holding.

Up until this point, he hadn’t even actually been thinking much about the possibility of his dad finding out where he was- his dad was the one to instate the “no saying the name of Soren’s seedy club” rule in the house, so he figured the less he knew about tonight, the better, but he also told Ezran he was probably going to be out late, and Callum was planning on being home at 10:00 anyway. 

Which speaking of that, with this painfully awkward mini-crisis averted, it was maybe about time to wrap things up. They had their fun, Rayla was probably having even more fun without him right now, Soren seemed to be all set for attendance for the night now- all in all, it was a successful Friday night out. Callum allowed himself a little pat on the back as he exited the restroom and walked back to the living room to meet Rayla.  _ Rayla.  _

The chair she was occupying before he left was now empty.  _ Rayla? _

— 

He darted around the crowds, now at an all time high, trying to keep his cool. She was probably just floating around- dancing? Maybe grabbing something to eat? He pulled out his phone to text her, but, of course, his reception had now dropped again. _ Right _ . 

“Rayla?” He called out, hoping she might hear him over the sound of the blaring EDM playing. “Rayla?”

“ _ Rayla, Rayla!” _ Callum’s head whipped around at this. Deep in a smaller resting area room across from him, he saw a flash of light hair amongst a crowd of rowdy party-goers. He was suddenly struck with a bad feeling, and he shot straight towards there, feeling panicked. What exactly were they all  _ doing  _ in there? 

The crowd of bodies was thick but Callum pushed through. They were chanting her name louder and louder and every possible scenario was flashing through his head-  _ Oh God, what if they’re making her do something she doesn’t want to, something she’ll really regret, the Instagram pics- _

He was instead greeted with the sight of Rayla seated on the floor in front of a low table, swiftly pounding back an 8 oz. 4loko in one go, amongst a pile of crushed cans. His numerous questions were immediately answered when she took the last drop and promptly crushed the can against her forehead in one fell swoop, the crowd going  _ wild.  _ This raised brand new questions.

Callum stood there watching, dumbstruck. Rayla didn’t even  _ want  _ to come here at first. Now she’s here crushing  _ cans  _ against her  _ forehead  _ while everyone loses their minds like she just performed the world’s greatest magic trick- just how hard was her  _ skull? _ !

“Rayla!” Callum said, and Rayla’s eyes shot straight towards him, her cheeks completely flushed and her smile so wide, he thought her face might split in half. “Callum, there ya are!”

“Rayla, we should get going, it’s almost 10:00 p.m.” Callum said, kneeling down beside her. “Ah, I’m jus gettin’ started though!” Rayla cheerily replied, raising another 8 oz. up high.

“I think you might have been getting started for a while now.” Callum said delicately, glancing down at the several other crushed cans on the table. The crowd around them began to disperse, muttering their disappointment-  _ Yeah, must suck that your free entertainment’s leaving. _

“Come on Rayla, let’s go.” Callum said more sternly, grabbing Rayla’s hand to help her up. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Ah’m feelin’ great!” Rayla responded a little too loudly, her grip on his hand tight. “Ah thought you were gonna be taking a while so I got to talkin’ with some fella, challenged me to a drinkin’ contest- but he was such a lightweight! His friend hadda come and pick him up off the floor.” She regaled with a loud giggle, apparently missing the slight irony in all of this.

“Uh, well, I thought you said you were gonna stay there and wait, but it’s fine, I guess. Doing the exact opposite of that.” He grasped her hand tighter and lead her out of the room, shooting a quick glare in the general direction of the people still in the room.

They went out into the living area and he attempted to weave them in and out of the crowds quickly, but by this point, it was getting impossible to do so without outright shoving people of the way, so he instead started leading them down the hallway he took before, this time entering the side closest to the bathroom. The hallways were considerably emptier now, so Callum picked up the pace heading towards the entrance, effectively dragging Rayla along.

“Wha’s the big rush so suddenly?” Rayla protested from behind. Callum could feel a headache coming on at this point. “There’s no rush, we’re just leaving at the time we  _ both  _ said we wanted to leave.”

“Ah, but we’re havin’ fun, aren’t we?” She said, dropping her pace. 

Oh, there was definitely a headache coming on. “Yeah, we are, but listen.” He stopped for a second as Rayla firmly planted her heels into the ground. “I’ll tell you the entire thing when we get to the car but there’s someone here you  _ really  _ don’t wanna-“

The “someone” in question’s familiar, profoundly unwelcome voice coming up from behind interrupted him, prompting another sudden shudder.

“Callum? Is that you? I thought you were leave-“

Before he could even reconsider what exactly he was doing, Callum immediately knocked open the door nearest to them and shoved both him and Rayla inside, slamming it shut. He heaved out a deep, profound sigh.  _ Okay, you have reaaaally got to be kidding me now- _

A hard shove to his shoulder interrupted him yet again. “ _ OW! _ ” 

“Don’t go pushin’ me around like that all of a sudden! What are we doin’ in here!?” Even in the darkness of this new, dimly lit room, her flush was bright pink- and Callum thought that she might have started to slur her words a bit. He glanced quickly around the room- a small lamp in the corner didn’t do much to help him see, but from the vague shapes in the darkness, it seemed they were most likely in some sort of small guest room.

“Sorry, sorry! Just trust me, there’s someone out there you  _ really  _ don’t wanna see right now, so let’s just stay here for a couple of minutes, and just. Recuperate. Re-plan.” Callum said, sitting on the bed, hands on his knees, feeling like he just ran a marathon. Rayla seemed to consider the situation briefly before she plopped down heavily next to him. She looked at him with increasingly hazy eyes. “Who’s out there?” 

“Soren’s dad…”

“That weirdo invited his  _ dad  _ here?!” 

“I don’t know! Apparently! He’s also our chemistry teacher by the way, so.”

“ _ HIM?”  _ She said so forcefully, Callum thought it might have sobered her up for a second. “He’s like _ eighty!  _ Wha’s he doin’ here?”

“I have  _ no  _ idea, but I’m about to find out.” Callum waved his phone around a bit. No reception,  _ of course.  _ “Rayla, could I borrow your phone?” He asked. She narrowed her eyes a bit, but handed it over to him. “Passcode’s my birthday.” She said, mildly embarrassed. “It’s-“

“It’s okay, I know it.” Callum said, already unlocking the phone and opening the messaging screen.

“Y’know my birthday?” She asked, her face suspicious.

Now he suddenly felt a little embarrassed. “Uh, yeah, you’ve told it to me before. My memory’s pretty okay...plus your birthday’s not that far off from mine.” He hovered his thumb over the keypad, wondering exactly  _ who _ he was going to even contact first to get answers. He was deciding between Ezran and Claudia, but then realized that maybe it was better to just cut out the middle-man, and starting pressing in Soren’s number.

“Wow. Tha’s so nice.” Rayla said almost dazed. She then suddenly flopped back onto the bed, startling Callum. “I’m kind of a shit friend then, huh? I’ll put yours in my calendar when I get home.”

“Uh, it’s cool, I don’t really expect you to remember mine.” Callum responded. He noted for a second her use of the word “friend”- he really wasn’t sure why, though. Not only did they hang out in school everyday, they were now been bonded together through the power of alcohol and lying. But the direct confirmation from her end brought a warmth to his face that he decided to ignore to yell at Soren instead.

**[Unknown Number] (9:22 p.m.):** HEY 

**[Unknown Number] (9:22 p.m.):** SOREN WHAT THE HELL 

**Soren (9:22 p.m.):** ? 

**[Unknown Number] (9:23 p.m.):** This is Callum I’m using Rayla’s phone 

**Soren (9:23 p.m.):** sup! u having fun or what! 

**[Unknown Number] (9:23 p.m.):** TONS of it. I’m literally hiding in a stranger’s room from your DAD 

**[Unknown Number] (9:24 p.m.):** Why is your DAD at this party?????? 

**Soren (9:24 p.m.):** aw fuck I knew there was something I forgot to tell u 

Callum sincerely thought he might develop a migraine at that point. Rayla was still on her back, busy cursing Viren’s name under her breath. “You know he failed almost everyone on that last quiz, right? He’ll probably do that with the midterm too...Ah swear he’s doin’ it on purpose…”

**Soren (9:25 p.m.):** i’m sorry dude it’s a long story it’s way dumb 

**Soren (9:25 p.m.):** but wait ur in there with scotland rite? can’t be all that bad haha 

**[Unknown Number] (9:26 p.m.):** It’s not funny Soren, she’s drunk and I’ve got to get her home. Can you distract your dad or something? He saw me earlier and I told him I was planning on leaving but he saw me again, so I’m pretty sure if he sees me again he’ll tell my dad I’m here. 

**Soren (9:27 p.m.):** aw shit sorry man ur right, i’ll get him out of here real quick but come meet me at the front i gotta tell u something 

Callum put her phone down and waited, completely still. No sounds of Viren outside. He let out an annoyed huff and turned towards his companion. “Okay Rayla we gotta-“ the sound of very light snoring gave him pause. “Rayla?” She was now on her side, laying her cheek on one arm and the other crossed out in front of her, looking entirely too comfortable on this foreign bed. 

“Rayla,” Callum whispered, stretching his hand out to her shoulder. He realized what a bad idea that was when, with her eyes barely opened, she delivered a swift chop to this arm, punctuated with a  _ very  _ distinct warning growl.  _ Okay, gotcha.  _

He was now at a crossroads. Soren said he had to tell him something, and  _ not  _ that he was gonna escort them out or anything, meaning they couldn’t leave quite yet, right? He had no idea  _ what _ could be so pressing that Soren had to tell him before they left, considering Soren didn’t consider warning Callum about his narc of a dad roaming the premises to be all too important, but what could he do? 

So the question was now: risk trying to wake up Rayla again? Or leave her asleep, alone, and defenseless in some stranger’s room at a party? Her reflexes were scary (and yet, as he’s realized throughout the night, very characteristically) sharp, but he knew there was no way he could leave her alone again. He couldn’t leave  _ anyone  _ alone like this.

But at the same time, she was also apparently knocked out cold. Maybe it’d be better to let her sleep off some of the drunkenness for a couple of minutes? Ten minutes at  _ most _ . If he was meeting Soren out at the front door, he’d more than likely have some reception out there. He cranked Rayla’s phone volume up to the highest level. 

“Rayla- don’t hit me please- I’m gonna step outside for just a second. I’m putting your phone right next to you and I’m locking the door. When I call you... _ please _ pick up.”

He thinks he might have heard a tiny groan in response, so he tip-toed out of the room, triple-checking to make sure it was soundly locked.  _ Okay, just ten minutes.  _

—

“I’ve gotta hand it to you Claudia, you’re still the only true competition I have in this.” Ezran commended proudly at the end of their 10th round of Mario Kart. Claudia giggled in response, “it’s always cute to see Soren and Callum try, though.” 

Bait suddenly jumped off the couch and waddled towards the door, hearing it unlock. “Oh, Callum! How was the party-“ Ezran began, before realizing that it was not, in fact, his brother who had just entered.

“O-oh, Dad? You’re home early?” Harrow shrugged off his coat onto the dining room chair as his Aunt Amaya, Gren, and Corvus all followed in after, waving hello. Claudia waved back and shot a quick look over at Ezran beside her, who was keeping a steady poker-face on for now.

“Yeah, well, we decided to move the party over here for the rest of the night. We’re closer to everyone else’s places here than we were at your Aunt’s shop. What party are  _ you  _ talking about, Ez?” Harrow asked, and the poker-face dropped for just a second.

“Oh! Um, his friend’s...birthday party! He didn’t mention it to you?” Ezran quickly responded with Claudia nodding emphatically next to him.

“No, must not have. That boy.” Harrow shook his head good-naturedly. “Which friend is it?”

“I, uh, don’t remember. We haven’t met her or anything.” Ezran stated. “She’s Scottish!” Claudia helpfully added.

“Oh, I’ve got family in Scotland!” Gren said happily. “They throw a good party, right Amaya?” Gren said while signing. Amaya nodded, but her face was clearly skeptical. Ezran held back a nervous gulp. 

“ _ Did he mention what time he would be home? _ ” She signed. “Um, around 11:00, most likely.” Ezran said, glancing at the clock they had near the kitchen. He figured it’d be a good idea to give Callum some extra cushion room for time.

“Little late, isn’t it?” Harrow said. Ezran was about to protest before Amaya swooped in. “ _ Well it is Friday night. Let him live a little.”  _ Amaya signed with a reassuring smile, seemingly convinced by Ezran. He and Claudia let out quiet, dual sighs of relief.

“How about you guys join us tonight? We’re about to break out Risk next.” Harrow said, holding up the board game in question. “We’re just going to get settled down for a minute and then we’ll be ready to go.” He walked off into his room while Amaya and Gren excitedly headed into the kitchen. Claudia gave Ezran a little nudge- “Good job!” She whispered- but Ezran was beginning to think they might have been celebrating a little too early. 

Corvus was leaning back on the dining room table, scrolling through his phone, squinting as he brought the screen up to his face for closer inspection. He then suddenly looked up and met Ezran’s eyes, who immediately plastered his poker-face back on. Corvus walked over. 

“Hi Corvus.” Ezran greeted cheerily, Claudia flashing him a wide smile. “Hey guys.” Corvus responded. A pause. “I, uh, have some questions.”

“Something on your mind?” Claudia asked, smile unwavering. “Couple of things.” Corvus said, turning his phone screen towards the two of them, his thumb pressing to pause a Instagram story. 

His other hand pointed towards a fuzzy, vaguely familiar figure- scrawny, dark hair, distinct red scarf- Ezran’s face finally dropped completely. “This isn’t who I think it is, right?”

Claudia threw her chin up indignantly. “Absolutely  _ no  _ what idea what you’re even  _ talking  _ about, I really- oh my god, wait,” She suddenly said, eyes widening as she snatched the phone closer to her. “Is that Callum’s friend?? Oh my god, she’s  _ sooo cute! _ ”

“So that  _ is  _ Callum then.”

“ _ NO _ , that’s just his friend there!”

“The one you haven’t met?” 

Claudia’s mouth gaped open and shut, searching for a response. Ezran placed a placating hand on hers. “It's okay.” He whispered, accepting defeat. He then turned his attention back towards Corvus, puppy eyes in full effect. 

“Corvus please...he’s gonna be home really soon...think about all the good times we’ve had together…” he pleaded, Claudia mirroring him now with a pitiful pout.

“Ezran it’s okay, I’m not going to tell your dad. Well, not yet anyway. What is he doing at Soren’s club?”

“Well, what are  _ you  _ doing following Soren’s club’s Instagram?” Claudia dropping the pout shot back, looking very pleased with herself.

“Your  _ brother _ made me follow it. I was scrolling through my stories when this automatically popped up, so again,  _ why  _ is Callum there? Is he drinking in this?” He pointed at the beer pong table on the screen. Ezran’s eyes widened a bit at this but he quickly composed himself.

“Well technically, he’s not at the club, this is a party at a house hosted by the club. And Soren invited him! He said he needed Callum’s help with attendance! Callum’s just doing him a favor for tonight and he brought his friend with him to be safe. That’s not  _ bad,  _ right?”

Corvus sighed and shook his head. “He’s under 18, and I’m assuming his friend is too. You said he’s supposed to be back at 11:00, right?” Ezran and Claudia both quickly nodded. Corvus glanced over at the kitchen and Harrow’s room. 

“Then he’s got until 11:00. If he’s not here by then, we’re going to pick them up.  _ All  _ of us.” He emphasized, cocking his head towards Harrow’s room. Right then, Harrow popped out of his room, and Amaya and Gren emerged from the kitchen with sodas and sandwiches.

“You guys ready?” Harrow asked excitedly. Ezran nodded and Claudia plastered a grin just slightly too wide. “I’m just gonna use the bathroom first!” Ezran said, jumping off the couch with his phone and Bait trailing behind him.

—

Callum found Soren leaning against the front door patiently, looking bored from the lack of incoming guests. He peeked up once he saw Callum approaching, Callum’s thoroughly unimpressed face apparently not fazing him one bit.

“Dude! Told my dad a fight broke out in the backyard all the way on the other side. Said he’d take care of it, so we’ve got a couple minutes.” Soren punctuated with finger guns, clearly pleased with his plan.

“Cool, awesome, what’d you have to tell me? Is it quick? ‘Cause I’d really just like to go get my keys and-“

“Yeah, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. We’re experiencing a minor technical difficulty at the moment. Valet’s gone.”

“ _ Gone!? _ ” Callum’s eyes popped out of his head, “Where’d they go?”

“Apparently they were drinking on the job, got too fucked up and had to leave. It was a disaster for a minute but it’s cool now, new valet’s coming when the party’s over.” Callum waved a hand, gesturing him to continue. “At 2:00 am.”

“ _ Two in the morning??  _ Soren, my dad thinks I’m gonna be home at  _ 10:00!  _ How is this even allowed!?”

Soren shook his head knowingly. “Dude, trust me, you are the only one tripping over this. Haven’t you noticed all the drinks you’ve been getting all night have been  _ free,  _ courtesy of the Boss-Man himself?  _ And  _ this party fucking rules? No one was even planning on leaving before then. Except, well, you of course. Where’s Scotland, by the way?”

“She’s in the room we were in before, she fell asleep so I locked the door. Kind of a big reason  _ why  _ we need to leave, but I’m assuming you don’t have any of the keys.”

“I do not, but I know who  _ does  _ right now. I can’t leave my post dude, but I’m gonna get you some directions.” Soren whipped out a small notepad and pen and scribbled down a quick diagram, passing it to Callum. The diagram showed a crudely drawn mansion, an arrow pointing up top, and a star at the top right corner. “Uh…”

“Directions, dude. My boss called me earlier saying he was keeping the keys. His room’s on the top floor so if you see him there, he’ll probably give yours back.” 

“Uh huh. Can you call him back and ask if he’s there?” Soren shrugged at this. “Don’t have his number. He always calls from a private number.”

“I, uh…okay, fine then. Thanks.” Callum said, stuffing the diagram in his pocket. With how huge the first floor was, it hadn’t even occurred to Callum all night that there were  _ more _ floors, or even a staircase leading up to them, for that matter. “Where are the stairs exactly?”

“Somewhere near the other side of the house, I think…don’t look at me dude, I just get paid to get people in here.” Soren put his hands up at Callum’s incredulous look. “This is only the second time I’ve even been here. I got a super quick tour from another promoter before and we barely went up to the second floor. I just heard a room of his is supposed to be on the end of the third floor, and that’s where he said he’d be keeping the keys so…”

“No, no, I get it I guess, thanks.” Callum said, about to turn around before he felt Soren put a hand on his shoulder. 

“Sorry I can’t be more help, man. If you see my dad around again just call me and I’ll take care of it.” Soren said, his words tinged with genuine guilt. For better or worse, it was very hard to stay mad at Soren for long.  _ Dammit _ .

“Thanks Soren.” Callum gave him a small smile. He then felt an incoming message on his phone.

**Ezran (9:43 p.m.):** Ok, don’t panic but Corvus knows where you are right now. But he’s not gonna tell Dad! You just have to come home by 11 or else we all have to go pick you up 

**Ezran (9:43 p.m.):** But like I said, don’t panic! You can stay even later now! Just be home by 11, easy 

**Ezran (9:44 p.m.):** :) hope you’re having fun! 

_ Oh God. _

“You know dude,” Soren began suddenly, hand still firmly on Callum’s shoulder. “Sometimes, I’ll look over at you and think to myself, ‘Man, Callum can really be such a dork sometimes.’ And a nerd. And a wimp. Maybe even a loser sometimes. But you really-“

“I’m gonna go ahead and take a rain-check on this heartfelt speech.” Callum deadpanned, patting Soren’s shoulder back and rushing off back to Rayla. “Rain-check it is then!” Soren called out behind him.

Passing through the crowds, he considered the current situation. It was, objectively, a bad one. But if his headache from earlier proved anything, it was that freaking out was doing nothing to help the situation. They had an  _ hour _ to leave- how hard could it be to find this weirdo boss of Soren’s and get his keys back? He just had to wake up Rayla, not die while doing so, and they would waltz on over to the third floor, get his keys, leave, he’d take her home, go home and lay in bed  _ all  _ weekend, and everything would be cool on Monday. No need to stress, no need to panic. 

He turned the corner into the hallway and reached his destination. He found the door swung wide open, with no Rayla in sight, again. _Ah_ _Okay. Now is the time to panic._

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So s3...kinda wild huh
> 
> I’m sorry that this chapter is a bit uneventful- it’s mostly just a lot of setting up for the next two (? ideally lol) final chapters coming up, and those will be much more interesting plot-wise (ship-wise too a bit, if anyone’s still interested in that haha)
> 
> I really did not expect this story to end up being as long as it is...this is literally the longest fic I’ve ever written. That’s crazy! This is so self-indulgent! But I am having fun so what can you do I guess
> 
> Thank you everyone for your comments and kudos and for reading again :) 💕


	5. Chapter 5

Everything felt like a blur at that point. He was practically sprinting anywhere and everywhere, weaving in and out of hallways and the kitchen and the dance floor that had formed- fighting off offers to drink, offers to dance, offers to do _ god _ knows what- his tunnel vision frantically and desperately looking and listening for any signs of his dumb-but totally not dumb-but completely _ dumb, _drunk friend. 

The one that he left _ alone _. He told himself not to panic, but he felt like he might just up and throw up on the floor at this point. He kept calling out her name instead. “Rayla!” 

It felt like the crowds he was trying to push through were getting thicker and thicker. He could feel hands on him, people trying to say things to him that made no sense, faces he’s never seen before closing in on him- he paused, feeling himself almost get dizzy. He didn’t even know where he had wandered off to now. So now not only is she _ gone _ , he was _ lost _ in this stupid, horrible, ugly, weird mansion and his _ chemistry teacher _ is here for some reason and his dad is going to be so beyond _ pissed _ and his friend he wanted to take care of is _ missing _ and god, _ what if something’s happened to her, Callum you idiot, stupid, stupid, stupid- _

-

His eyes snapped open suddenly, he caught his breath, and he looked around- he was in the hallway. Right where he started at? No- it felt different here. He turned his head around the corner and saw the hallway he and Rayla _ were _in all the way on the other side of the living area. He was somewhere new. 

He turned back around then and came face-to-face with Rayla, staring straight back at him. 

“Where’d yah go?” Rayla asked, flush still present on her cheeks. Callum’s brain short-circuited.

“Where did I- where did _ you go!? _ ” Callum shot back. He couldn’t even begin to grasp how _ casual _ Rayla was being about all of this, like he wasn’t just running marathons chasing after her after she literally _ disappeared. _ “Didn’t you hear me when I said I’d be right back? I locked the door for you and everything, you were _ asleep! _”

“Ah woke up.” She responded plainly. “Ah was thinkin’ about what you told me about that old bastard being here.”

“Mr. Viren!?” Callum asked, almost panting. “Thas his first name? Figures, a right bitch name.” Rayla responded, her reasoning for this conclusion not entirely clear to him. 

“You mentioned he was here and I got to thinkin’ about our quiz- he _ failed _us, y’know. Like we’re not always sharin’ notes and doin’ the labs right! He’s doin’ it on purpose, Ah know it.” Rayla said, swaying ever so slightly to the left before straightening herself up again. 

He went quiet for a moment. “Um, if I recall correctly, I got a C and you got a B-.” Callum gingerly corrected.

She waved a righteous fist. “We shoulda gotten A’s! I always get A’s! Half the stuff on his quizzes aren’t even in the lecture!” She shot up an indignant, shaky finger. “Is not fair! Everyone else’s thinks so too, and Ah jus’ know he’s gonna do it again, so Ah realized this was the perfect time to _ talk _to him about it.”

His went quiet again, eyes narrowing. “Talk to him about it…”

“Talk to him about it.” She replied firmly, pounding her fist into her other hand. It all clicked then for Callum.

“Rayla, did you...are you...trying to find our Chemistry teacher to _ fight _ him?”

Her finger poked straight onto Callum’s chest. “Outside the class, he’s not my teacher and Ah’m not his student! Plus Ah’m 21 here, remember? No kid shit here, we handle this like adults.” 

Callum studied her face for any sign of sarcasm or humor, and found nothing but _ deathly _ seriousness on her end. _ This _ was the reason she left the room. This was...so insane. So stupid. He thought he might get really angry again for a moment. He kneeled over and burst into laughter instead. 

“Wha are you laughin’ at!! Ah’m dead serious!” Rayla stomped her foot and angrily protested, and it only made Callum laugh even _ harder _\- so hard, tears that were threatening to fall out earlier were now flowing freely down his face. He gathered himself for a second, peeking up at Rayla’s bright red, pouting face and a burst of laughter fell out again as he doubled over even harder. 

“It’s not funny! Ah’m doin’ this for you too, y’know!”

“Wow, my hero!” He gasped out in between laughs.

“You lookin’ to fight too?” She said, but her face betrayed her true feelings- her indignant pout had given way to a smaller, annoyed pout, her face still flushed with alcohol, righteous anger, and embarrassment. 

“God, Rayla, part of you isn’t even _ that _ different or anything when you’re drunk. You’re just a more intense _ you. _ ” Callum said, finally composing himself and wiping the tears from his eyes. It was all half due to the fact that no matter what, where, and how, Rayla was just somehow always funny, and that he was just so damn _ relieved _ now.

He didn’t think Rayla’s face could get even redder, but she managed it. “Ah’m not even that drunk anymore.” She said, looking off to the side. She then took a drink from the bottle she grabbed from the floor, and Callum immediately stopped laughing.

“_ You’re still drinking?? _” His eyes bugged out.

“Ah got thirsty!” She took a second, defiant sip.

“There’s _ water _here too, you know!” Callum said, shooting his hand out to grab the bottle. Before he could even get halfway came her swift whip of a hand smacking his out of the way.

“_ ACH- _ how are you so _ strong!? _”

“Wrestlin’. And some martial arts.” Rayla responded.

“Is there anything you _ can’t _do?!” Callum clutched at his defeated, wounded hand.

“No.” She took another swig from her bottle. Despite her incredibly poor partying decisions and his throbbing hand, puffs of laughter kept escaping from Callum. He reached out again and this time, Rayla let him take the bottle from her with no trouble. 

“Well, now that I’ve found you again, I can at least tell you the latest terrible thing that’s just happened. Long story short, the valet’s gone, we’ve gotta leave before 11:00 or else I’ll never be allowed out of the house again, and we’ve got to find the owner of this place to get my keys back to do all that. As much I’d love to see you beat up Mr. Viren, it’s probably gonna have to wait.”

“He’s lucky you found me. Before we do all that though, I have somethin’ weird to show you.” Rayla said, grabbing Callum’s arm and pulling him down the hallway. 

“Uh, this whole thing’s a little time-sensitive, Rayla.”

“It’s super quick, look!” They reached the end of the hall, past the small ceiling lights that dimly illuminated the path. Callum shot her a quizzical look and quickly realized it was pointless from how dark it had suddenly become. “Interesting decor choice to make this one corner pitch-black?” He mused. 

“You might be onto somethin’ with that.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him against the wall on the left hand side, which to Callum’s surprise, apparently didn't exist. His hand swung around a bit, grasping at nothing until he hit the corner. “There’s...more hallway?” He pulled out his phone to turn on the flashlight and found a new corner, formerly shrouded in complete darkness, and something else. 

“Staircase! It’s here! Why is this _ here _of all places?” Callum asked incredulously. 

Rayla scoffed. “Rich people. Or maybe this guy’s got somethin’ to hide?”

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing that whatever it is, it’s _ none _ of our business!” Callum said happily. Despite the fact that this was objectively, beyond creepy, he was just happy to be getting _ somewhat _closer to getting his keys back. He shined his phone flashlight higher up to get a better look at the top, and found what looked like an infinite amount of stairs trailing off into pitch-black darkness. He grimaced- the creep factor might overtake the relief at this point. 

“Are you gonna be okay going up?” Callum asked Rayla, who was now currently slanted entirely against the wall. She languidly straightened herself up again and slowly turned towards him. “Ah might need some help.”

“Gotcha.” Fumbling with his phone, Callum debated how exactly to go about this- simply grabbing her hand or arm wouldn’t provide any real support so he decided that maybe very, _ very _lightly slinging her arm around his shoulder would do the trick. She held out her arm and he gently positioned it across his shoulders, placing an incredibly polite and completely appropriate hand on her waist, praying he wasn’t making her uncomfortable.

Rayla didn’t seem especially fazed by this chivalrous gesture when she instead crashed into him completely, swiftly backing him against the wall and swinging both arms tightly around his neck. 

They paused, completely still. “Sorry…” came a quiet voice from the crook of his neck. “Ah’m just tryin’ to keep my balance.”

“THAT’S COOL.” Callum responded, body completely turned to stone. He willed his rigid arms to mechanically grasp Rayla’s shoulders and pull her back into position, this time holding onto her waist tighter, pulling her closer to him. Closer than they had been the entire night, aside from just a few seconds ago. But still very secure, very normal, completely fine.

“This is completely fine.” Callum thought out loud. _ Shit. _

“Good?” Rayla said, her face now obscured by the darkness.

“Great, even.” Callum immediately responded. _ Shit. Again. _“Let’s go.” He quickly said, handing her his phone as they began their ascent.

—

“So everytime this guy wants to go to his room, he’s gotta journey up here like this? No secret elevator he can take?” Rayla turned the phone flashlight to the side, illuminating the final hallway from the stairs on the third floor. It turned out Soren’s “map” actually worked in their favor, as it showed the way up to the third was essentially a zig-zag pattern going up, meaning their destination was ideally at the end of this hall. _ Ideally. _

“At this point, this makes complete sense. Soren told me he doesn’t even have his phone number, he calls him from a private number.” Callum took a moment to note his surroundings, limited as it was. Bare walls with a few uninviting looking doors along the way. For as much as he wanted to leave, he was really not looking forward to meeting the owner of this place.

“Ah mean, if he’s so scared of gettin’ robbed or somethin’ he probably shouldn’t be charging a bunch of strangers to come to his house to party, might give someone ideas...oh stop, Ah’m kiddin’.” Rayla bumped his shoulder at his scandalized expression.

They reached the end of the hallway and found two closed doors across from one another. “You wanna pull out your friend’s atlas again to figure this one out?” Rayla said as Callum begrudgingly did just that. “There’s only one star he drew on here so I guess it doesn’t really specify...don’t give me that look, he’s never been up here either!” 

With no other clues, they attempted the tried-and-true method of opening the doors. The one on the left was dead-bolt locked, but the one on the right opened pretty easily. They shined the light inside through the slight crack of the door, and listened. No one seemed to be inside.

“Maybe we should wait…”

“You said you were on a time limit, didn’t you? Ah’m sure this guy can’t be thinkin’ that people wouldn’t be stoppin’ by to get their keys and leave?”

“The hidden hallways make me think he thought exactly that.” Callum countered, but Rayla was already pushing the door open and stepping inside, so he nervously trailed behind.

The room was characteristically dark, but this time, the small source of light came from candles littered about. Rayla waved their flashlight round the room, revealing bits and pieces. 

The walls were covered with framed paintings of different landscapes and portraits of subjects they couldn’t entirely decipher. There was a large, old bookcase stuffed with thick tomes and aged paper, a small nightstand next to it cluttered with various knick-knacks- Rayla swung the light around and they were immediately blinded by the reflection of a massive, ornate full-length mirror in the corner. This was all in stark contrast to the sleek, modern and minimalist furniture of the first floor and the nearly serial killer-esque bareness of the hallways- this was downright _ bursting _with ominous, vintage decor and sensibility.

“This is very…Callum?” His nerves has apparently vanished completely as he was already poking around the bookcase and the nightstand.

“Oh right, you must be lovin’ this, huh? You and your whole thing with weird evil occult stuff.” Rayla scoffed lightly. 

“Not _ evil _.” Callum corrected. She wasn’t completely off, though. Callum had always had a particular interest in almost anything to do with the realm of magic and folklore- whether it was books, legends, art, games, magic tricks (that’s why he could never get too offended by Soren calling him a nerd)- he was into it all.

-

(Now that she had mentioned it, he also realized that this interest was basically how they even got to know each other in the first place. After Rayla had resigned herself to Callum following her around to make sure she wasn’t walking into the wrong classroom again, there were many, many painful attempts at conversation- she wasn’t moved by observations about the weather, what her favorite school subject was, or how her first day was going. 

In a last ditch effort to relieve _ any _of the awkwardness of being forced together by an uncaring homeroom teacher, Callum grasped at the one fact he knew about her, and asked her if she knew any Scottish folktales. He had thought for a moment he simply had no choice left but to shrivel up and die from the withering look she gave him, but after the longest pause of his life, she told him one. And then another. And then several more for the rest of the week. 

It turned out she was actually quite proud of her country’s rich history of folklore, and she had told him she’d answer any other questions he had, so he brought a list back that following Monday, and she only looked mildly annoyed for one moment this time when answering them. 

The last five questions were about her specifically, and she then actually smiled. And now they were snooping around in a stranger’s secret occult room in the middle of a party together. The weirdest burst of fondness surged up inside of him, but this time, he decided that maybe he would not completely ignore it.)

-

“Come on, you have to admit some of this stuff is really cool. I mean, look at this!” She came closer and he held out a thick book with deep carvings on the cover that was laying on top of the nightstand. 

“Can you even read any of this stuff?” Rayla asked, pointing at the detailed and archaic looking runes running along the margins of the cover and pages. “No, but it doesn’t make it any less awesome.” She scoffed again, but the small smile on her face only encouraged him. 

“Usually runes like this are for casting spells and such...you draw them out and say the incantation out loud, and _ boom _, you’ve got yourself a spell.” 

“Well, why don’t you try that then?” He looked up from the book to see a mischievous look in Rayla’s eyes. “Go on, if you know so much about magic, cast some spells Harry Potter.”

“You’re joking, but I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve.” Callum said smugly, dusting some imaginary lint off his shoulder. “Check this out, fresh from CoolSpells.com,” Rayla rolled her eyes fondly watching him, finger waving in the air to trace out a “rune”. 

“_ Aspiro! _”

_ SLAM! _

_ “AH-“ _

The two of them nearly jumped out of their bones- they flailed about, looking for literally _ anywhere _to hide before they shot behind the mirror in the corner, crouched down, not even daring to breathe. There was a long moment of oppressive silence before they heard quiet footsteps make their way down the hallway.

“...I promise you that wasn’t me.” Callum whispered. “_ Duh _.” Rayla whispered back, flicking his forehead. “We should go after him.”

“Go after _ who?” _

“Who else? We came up here lookin’ for the owner, didn’t we? Who else could that be?” 

She grabbed his hand and they quickly slipped out of the room, rushing down the hall to catch up to the looming mystery figure. At the sound of their footsteps, the figure stopped.

Callum glanced around nervously. “Uh! Excuse me Mr...Soren’s boss, we wanted to ask you-“ His mouth immediately flew shut when Viren turned around, looking shocked.

“UH, _ just kidding never mind- _“ Viren put a firm hand on their shoulders to hold them still. The irony of Callum not wanting to come to this party in the first place, and now would likely never be able to see the light of day ever again struck him suddenly. He silently mourned.

“I’m assuming _ both _of you didn’t come here to drop things off for my son.”

Callum racked his brain for _ anything _to salvage the situation. Rayla forcefully shrugged off his shoulder, and Callum braced himself for whatever was about to come next. 

“Threatening My Guests, Viren?”

A booming voice from behind made three of them jump. Callum slowly turned around and looked up at the tallest man he had ever seen in his life. An obscenely expensive looking robe hung off him, with long hair framing a handsome face.

“I Don’t Believe We Have Met.” 

“Oh! Uh, I’m...Callum. This is my friend Rayla. This is our...chemistry teacher, Mr. Viren…” Viren’s hand on his shoulder stiffened.

“I Am Very Well Acquainted with My Friend Viren At This Point.” Viren coughed.

“Oh good, we all know each other...that’s...cool…”

His eyes darted around. He could see Rayla’s incredulous expression from the corner of his eye, but she didn’t look like she was going to say anything inflammatory at the moment, so there was that, at least. . At this point, it was a little hard to tell what her current sobriety status was- her eyes looked _ extremely _ alert now, but there was still a slight flush across her face.

He cleared his throat. “Are you the, uh, owner of this place?”

“This Is My Home, Yes.”

“Awesome! Sorry about uh...possibly breaking into part of your home...we were told that you were holding on to some keys since the valet’s gone…”

The new mystery man nodded. “Yes, I Alerted My Trusted Employee Soren Of My Intentions. Why Don’t We All Step Inside My Office.” He gestured towards the room at the end of the hall that the two of them had just ran from.

“Wait. That creepy occult dungeon is your office?” Rayla suddenly cut in. Viren and Callum shot her simultaneous cautious looks but the man simply chuckled. “Who Am I To Deny My Rather Eccentric Interests?” 

Rayla was ready to shoot back before Callum grasped her hand tightly. She turned to look at him, and he gave her a nervous grin. She frowned deeply- he understood the sentiment, but he figured maybe picking fights with grown men would not solve much. She seemed placated by this conclusion, for now at least.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for ~~mystery man’s~~ dialogue, I had written the first sentence out in that capitalized stylization for my own dumb amusement, and thought to myself hey this is mildly funny...what if I just kept that...and posted this chapter at 1:30am before I wake up in the morning and regret doing that...and here we are
> 
> I really wanted to cram the ending into the next chapter, but as I write chapter 6, I realized that since this story is already fairly long, I might as well go all in so at this point, so chapter 7 should (probably) finally be the end!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is all at once the longest, dumbest, and fluffiest chapter. It’s also the last one!

“Callum.” Rayla whispered as they both sat stiffly on chairs begrudgingly provided for them by Viren. The man requested Viren’s help in finding Callum’s keys in the locked room across, leaving them alone again, seated by the nightstand. Before she spoke, Callum had been busy trying to decipher the paintings on the wall- big fan of worms, this guy seemed to be.

“Callum, you know those photos that people always talk about of this guy’s club? What if they have to do with all this stuff he has here...like animal sacrifices or somethin’...” She punctuated with wiggling fingers.

“What? No, I think they’re just pictures of like...scantily clad women or something.”

“Or so they say.” Rayla said, pointing to her head again. “My intuition’s tellin’ me there’s somethin’ weird about this guy.”

“Huh, you don’t say. What tipped you off.” Callum gestured around them, earning him a shove on the shoulder. “I mean, he said it was an interest of his...maybe he’s like. A mage or something.”

“A mage.” Rayla repeated.

“They’re out there! Whether you believe it or not, if he’s knowledgeable about the different kinds of magic out there...honestly, I can’t lie, if we weren’t in the situation we’re in now, this would still be kind of cool.”

“Don’t tell me you’re jealous of all this.”

“I’m not! _ My _ creepy occult dungeon would be way better than this.” This earned him another shove, and a giggle.

Viren and the mystery man walked back into the room at this moment, Viren looking so thoroughly mortified by the entire situation that Callum almost felt sorry for him (_ but not that sorry _.) The mystery man took a seat across from them, the single candle on the nightstand illuminating the high planes of his face, the other half staying shrouded in darkness. His long fingers delicately placed Callum’s car keys in front of them.

“Oh, thank you _ so much_.” Callum sighed, all but snatching them off the table. He and Rayla motioned to stand, but that same hand suddenly gestured for them to wait. “I Do Not Mean To Inconvenience You, But I Was Hoping That Perhaps I May Speak With You, For A Moment.”

“Er…” Callum glanced over at Rayla, whose face was adamantly screaming _ no _ at him, but something about the man’s serene smile and Viren’s severe look behind him gave him pause. _ I mean, he did just kind of do us a favor… _

“Sure…” Callum sat back down, Rayla very unhappily following suit. The man’s smile widened. 

—

Ezran checked his phone again. No new messages. 

The group was taking a breather from a particularly intense round of Risk- “It’s gonna take a moment for Harrow and Amaya to be able to look at each other again. You guys know how it is.” Gren explained, Corvus nodding gravely in agreement. Gren then went off to try and salvage the relationship, leaving the three of them alone at the dining room table.

“Any word from him?” Claudia asked, sympathizing with Ezran’s concerned expression. 

“Not yet...it says my texts are going through, but he’s still not answering. I hope his phone’s not dead or anything.”

“Well, I mean, better his phone dead than...him.”

“I’m worried too!” She said at Ezran’s look of disappointment. “It’s just hard with how insulted I feel right now by him! Imagine complaining _ that _ much about spending an entire night with a pretty girl...I’ll never forgive him.” Claudia’s grip tightened, and Ezran frowned, knowing the fury she was about to unleash on his poor, defenseless country.

“We could go and pick him up now if you’d like...it matters more that he’s safe than whether he’s in trouble with your dad.” Corvus said quietly.

“No, I trust Callum, I think he’s okay. It’s just a little...weird that he’s not answering right away.”

Claudia shrugged. “He _ did _look like he was having fun…Soren texted me saying he was just going to grab his keys and leave, so.”

Gren came back to the table with Harrow and Amaya in tow, arms swung tightly around their shoulders. “For the sake of our little family, we’ve decided to cut this round short and start up some Uno instead.” He said happily with Harrow and Amaya nodding. 

Harrow peered around the room. “What time is it now...has Callum messaged you at all, Ezran?” Ezran looked down at his phone- 10:30.

“Er, not yet...he said he’d be back at 11:00, but he’s still has to drop off him friend too. So maybe it’ll be a couple of minutes?” Ezran reasoned. 

“_ It’s okay, Harrow. _ ” Amaya signed. “ _ He’s a good kid, he can have some fun sometimes. And if he needs a ride, instead, then maybe... _”

“I think he should be okay.” Corvus interjected before Ezran could, surprising him. “He’s very responsible...plus, Harrow, I mean this in the most respectful way possible, but a dad picking his son up from a high school birthday party…” 

“You wound me, Corvus. You might have to watch your back this round of Uno.” Harrow said, hand to his heart. They all sat back down and Ezran held Bait up higher on his lap so they could both shoot grateful puppy eyes in Corvus’ direction. Corvus simply scoffed and gave a light, exasperated smile. 

—

There was a loud shuffling of papers coming from Viren behind the man.

Rayla discreetly leaned over. “Callum, don’t get scared...I think you’re about to enter a blood pact.” She whispered close to his ear. “I’m not scared at all now, thank you.”

“I Must Say, I Am Very Impressed That You Had Managed To Find My Office. It Certainly Takes A Level Of Tenacity I Find Myself In Admiration Of.” The hand pointed towards them. 

“Ah well, you know...desperate times call for desperate measures.” Callum took a quick peek down at his phone. Unsurprisingly, no reception, and it was now 10:35- _ very _desperate times.

“In This Business, It Is Always In Good Practice To Observe Valuable Qualities Such As These. Perhaps, By The Hand Of Cosmic Forces Beyond Us, We Have Been Brought Together For This Opportunity.” From the darkness, a hand slid into the candle’s light, slowly sliding a paper over.

They stared down at it, dumbfounded. “Is this...an employment application?”

“We Can Take This Time To Discuss Wages If You Would Like. Worry Not, I Pay Handsomely. Above State Minimum Age.”

Callum blinked. “Oh wow, that’s very generous of you, but unfortunately I’m still in high school so…” He motioned to stand again. Another hand slipped out of the darkness to hand him a worker’s permit.

“Wow, you...that’s. Prepared.”

“Is this how Soren got hired?” Rayla frowned. 

“Soren Had Responded To Our Craigslist Listing, But It Was, Nonetheless, Another Stroke Of Fate, Unavoidable.”

Callum glanced up desperately at Viren to make any sense of what was happening. Viren quickly turned his head away, offering no solace. Rayla looked just as lost as he was, so he steeled himself alone in this.

“I...am going to have to decline. But thank you for the...opportunity…”

The two papers slid back into the darkness. 

“I Understand, We All Have Our Own Paths And Priorities, And Perhaps Kismet Shall Have It That Ours Will Cross Again.” The papers then slid slowly back into view towards Rayla. “Don’t even think about it.” They promptly slid back.

The man's expression darkened, the candlelight casting a harsher shadow. “I Must Say Now However, I Do Feel Slighted In This Current Situation. Though I Commend Your Determination And Resourcefulness, And Respect Your Candor, You Did Indeed Technically Break Into A Private Area Of My Home.”

Callum tugged at his scarf, the room suddenly feeling so much more tense. “Yeah, we’re sorry about that…”

“I Can Accept Your Apology, But The Exchange Feels Incomplete. I Think That Perhaps, There Are Other Ways You May Be Able To Repent.”

Even Viren looked shaken by this, whipping his head back towards his companion, then at the two of them. Callum’s breath stopped. Rayla swiftly and angrily stood at this point, and as honored as he was still at the idea of Rayla being willing to fight grown men in defense of him, he knew it couldn’t go further than this, so he put his own hands up in defense.

“Look, wh-whatever is it, I’ll do it, just, the two of us _ really _ need to get home…”

The man suddenly back, receding out of the candlelight’s reach into the thick, black darkness. The hand slipped out again slowly, palm up. 

“I Was Made Aware That You Received A Discount.”

Callum blinked again. “What.”

“Entrance Price For Men Is $20, But You Only Paid $15.”

“Oh my _ GOD. _” Rayla shot up again, shaking the table and slamming down a $5 bill. 

“Let’s _ go _.” She snatched the keys and Callum’s arm, and he more than willingly allowed himself to be dragged out the door. The man chuckled slowly and deeply from behind.

“It Was A Pleasure Meeting You Both. I’ll Be Sending My Business Card Along With Viren For You.” 

Viren trailed awkwardly behind them as they final stepped out of the room. _ Should I...thank them? _Callum settled for a cautious, half-hearted wave. In the darkness of the room, the man’s bright eyes shifted into what he hoped was a smile.

—

The descent back downstairs was thankfully a much quicker one, but it left them face to face with Viren at the end of the hidden portion of the hallway, with only a moment to dwell on what exactly _ what _happened before they walked back into reality.

Viren cleared his throat again, refusing to meet their eyes. “I’m sure you must be wondering what business I had up there exactly.” 

“I really wasn’t.” Callum said almost pleadingly. Viren continued on, undeterred. 

“I do not expect the two of you to comprehend the need for hobbies at a more mature age. You fritter about in school, spending your days idly, unaware and uncaring of a future beyond those walls…” 

At this point, Callum could practically sense the bloodlust emanating from Rayla, so he grasped her hand tightly again, and she let out the deepest sigh he had ever heard from her. _ I know. _

“...an identity beyond simply _ father _ , _ teacher, friend, ex-husband _ \- you ask, what constitutes _ you _? What can you grasp and claim as your own, your own craft, sanctuary, your own purpose?”

“Okay, so then you weren’t here to actually chaperone, you were here to...do magic tricks.” Rayla finished. A tense silence fell between. _ Don’t do it. It’s not worth it. _

“...Spell casting’s a different art form from magic tricks.” Callum muttered under his breath. “Yes, exactly!” Viren enthusiastically agreed. “Thank you, Callum.”

“You’re...welcome.” Callum decided at that moment that whatever punishment was coming, could really not be that awful because he was never going to willingly leave the house again.

A flurry of vibrations went off in his pocket then- ten missed messages from Ezran, and the time 10:45 p.m. on the dot. He felt Rayla’s grip on his hand loosen. From the way her shoulders slumped over heavily, it seemed all of the adrenaline from before had finally worn off. He immediately shrugged off his internal pity party- he might be doomed to a lifelong grounding no matter what, but he still had to get her home.

Viren finally looked directly at them. “I have decided, due to these admittedly odd circumstances, that I will not be notifying your parents of your whereabouts.” He announced benevolently. His voice then dropped, eyes drifting away again. “And in return...perhaps you could refrain from speaking to my son and daughter about this night.”

“Wouldn’t even dream of it!” Callum brought his arm around Rayla’s shoulders and swung them around towards the front door. “See you...Monday?” He glanced back at Viren.

“Yes, bright and early.” Viren responded, his formal persona back on display. “And, er. Before I forget.” He handed Callum a thick business card. “Again. This exchange never happened.”

“Erasing this from my memory as we speak.” Callum said. Viren glanced over at Rayla, who mustered the last of her energy to point two threatening fingers at her eyes, then to his. He gave them a final, firm nod, and ventured back upstairs. 

—

**Callum (10:48 p.m.): **I’m sorry for not answering you earlier, I’ll explain everything when I get home, but I’m going to drop off my friend first. Has dad said anything?

**Ezran (10:48 p.m.): **it’s okay! He asked again what time you were coming home but Corvus covered for you. He loves us :’) are you guys ok?

**Callum (10:49 p.m.): **Physically yes. Emotionally, not sure

**Ezran (10:49 p.m.): **What happened?

**Callum (10:50 p.m.): **Nothing bad, just. This is easily the stupidest night of my life

**Ezran (10:50 p.m.): **Oh. Well better stupid than dead!

Callum sighed. The perfect mix of Ezran‘s and Claudia’s interesting brands of optimism. He held Rayla close as before, watching her head bob back and forth, trying to stay awake. “Are you good?” She gave a thumbs up, her head hanging off to the side. _ Good enough for now _. 

They reached the front of the door, Soren standing as dutifully as the beginning of the night.

“You got your keys back!” He said as Callum raised them up in exasperated triumph. “You found my boss, huh? You believe I’ve never even been to his office before?”

“I completely believe you.”

“You run into my dad again?” Soren jested, nudging his side. 

“Not even once.” 

“You good, Scotland?” Soren turned his attention towards Rayla. Her head shot up immediately to stare daggers at him before he held out a water bottle and ibuprofen for her.

“Heard you got kinda fucked up, this always helps me.” She accepted his gifts, looking up at him in complete shock. “So you’re not as stupid or awful as I thought you were.” She said, without a trace of malice or sarcasm. 

Callum ventured a glance at Soren, who never looked prouder. “I get that a lot. Anyway, I’m gonna help you guys to your car. No worries about my spot, I got someone to cover me.” He said, pointing towards Crow Master slumped over on the side.

Finding the car was, thankfully, fairly easy. They loaded Rayla onto the passenger’s seat, where she promptly passed out. Soren knelt down to talk to Callum through the driver’s window. “I can save the heartfelt speech again so you can get her home. Text me when you’re finished, and thanks for coming out.” He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Like I said, I know this wasn’t your scene at all, but…”

Callum gave him a small, but genuine smile. “It’s okay, thanks, Soren. I had fun.” Soren looked almost grateful at this response, and he sent them off with a wave. With Rayla lightly snoring again next to him, they drove down the winding grooves of the road, heading back home.

—

“Rayla.” Callum shook her shoulder lightly as she stirred awake. “We’re at your place now.” She straightened slowly, gathering her surroundings. Watching her check her bag, Callum reflected a bit- all in all, this _ was _ kind of a successful Friday night out. It was a weird trainwreck at moments ( _ many moments), _but they came back safe, and he could now finally go home and-

“Keys…” She said quietly, still dazed. “Can’t find my keys.” He paused. “Do you have a spare anywhere?”

“No…”

“...Are your parents home?”

“Nurses…”

“Er.” Another pause. “They’re nurses. They work overnight a lot.”

“Oh.” _ Right. _As always, he celebrated too early- the night had still had one more obstacle to throw at them. 

—

Ezran and Claudia returned to the couch, watching Harrow and the other adults perched at the dining room table, steadily facing the front door. 

“It’s 11:15.” Harrow said gravely. “He’s officially late.”

“It really should be any minute now.” Ezran said, but Harrow seemed unpersuaded. At this point, even Amaya looked skeptical again. “_ Does his friend live far?” _She asked. Ezran glanced over at Corvus, who looked as though he had his hands tied now. He shot a remorseful look in Ezran’s direction- betrayal at so young an age. Ezran clutched Bait mournfully.

Corvus stood. “Well, he might be a little late because-“

Right at that moment, the front door swung wide open. “Callum!”

“Hey everyone!” Callum said, almost took enthusiastically. Next to him was Rayla, fighting a new battle against passing out on the floor as Callum very discreetly held up her by her shoulders.

“A little late, but welcome home!” Harrow said, before turning his look to beside Callum. “And you brought a friend!”

“Yup! Everyone, this is, uh, my friend Rayla! Say hi, Rayla!” Callum grasped her shoulder tighter, and Rayla gave a small wave, head tilting up.

“Wow Callum, is that your friend that you were with at the _ birthday party _you were at today?” Ezran said loudly from behind the couch. “Did you have FUN.” Claudia said, even louder. “At the birthday party?”

He paused, gears turning in his head. “_ Yes. _Yes she is, and yes I did, thank you for asking, Ezran and Claudia.” The three of them plastered on wide grins, turning towards the adults.

“_ Is your friend alright? _” Amaya asked, eyeing Rayla. “Yeah, she’s fine! It’s just past her bedtime.” Callum responded, ignoring a small, indignant shove to his side.

“Well, any friends of my sons’ are welcome, of course.” Harrow said, coming up to shake Rayla’s flimsy hand. “It’s just...a little late, isn’t it? Are your parents not home, Rayla?”

Callum peeked over at her, worried if she had it in her to respond. She managed. “My parents work all night...forgot my keys.” Harrow glanced back at Amaya, worried. “And are you alright? Do you need-“

“It’s okay!” Claudia suddenly jumped up from behind the couch. “It’s okay, because we invited her! For our sleepover!” Ezran nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah! Callum told us she’d have to be alone for tonight, so since Claudia was probably going to stay over, we thought, ‘the more the merrier!’ Right?” 

Callum thought his cheeks might shatter from how widely he was smiling at his dad and aunt. _ No more questions, please please please- _

“_ Well if that’s the case. _ ” Amaya signed, her smile strangely knowing. _ Whew. _

Harrow pondered this. “Well, it is a little late notice, but I guess that’s fine for a Friday night. I can set up a place for you all to rest.” He turned back towards Corvus and Gren. “I don’t suppose you two were planning on having a sleepover too, right?” 

“No- _ yes! _” Came their simultaneous answers. Harrow sighed good-naturedly, and walked off to gather extra blankets.

—

Despite Ezran and Claudia’s insistence that they formally meet Rayla, Callum managed to convince them to wait until tomorrow so Rayla could get a head-start on resting. His dad, in all his kindness and hospitality, always took a while setting up a room for a guest to sleep in, so Rayla was currently laying down on his own bed, as Callum sat on the floor next to it. He figured he should probably go help his dad set up- until he heard the soft snoring suddenly stop.

“Callum?” Rayla called out, voice thick with sleepiness.

“Hey, I’m right here. How are you feeling?” He knelt up against the side of the bed to face her, her eyes barely open. She glanced around slowly.

“Is this your room?” She asked, and he nodded. “Figures.” She said, pointing at the large Dungeons and Dragons poster he had on the wall. 

“Hey, it’s better than whatever those things were hanging on that dungeon wall.” Rayla groaned, her face in her palms, and he laughed. “This night was so fucking weird.” She lamented. He couldn’t disagree.

“Yeah...um. I’m sorry, by the way.”

Rayla lifted her head slightly at this to look over at him directly. “What are you apologizing for?”

He frowned sheepishly. “I don’t know, just...this whole night, I guess. I told you we were going to have fun and it kind of just...went off the rails really fast.” _ To say the least _.

She blinked as though she couldn’t entirely grasp what he was saying. “I did have fun though. I always have fun with you. That’s the only reason I went to that stupid party in the first place.”

His face suddenly felt very warm. _ Is she still drunk? _

“Well I mean, I was kind of just panicking the entire time we were there…”

“That’s just what you’re always like.” She scoffed. “You’ve just got a good head on your shoulders is all. Don’t get me wrong- I was pretty pissed earlier when I found out it was your knucklehead friend’s club party. Give me his number later, by the way, so I can text him thanks…” She trailed off thoughtfully, and Callum held back a smirk.

“But I figured that if I was with you, we probably wouldn’t really get in any trouble. And we didn’t, really. I mean, a lot of _ really _dumb, weird shit happened, but we’re still alive. And I had a lot of fun.” Her eyes flicked downwards for a moment, looking slightly embarrassed. “Honestly, I get a little nervous at that things like that…”

“You, nervous?” Callum said, genuinely shocked. “You were kind of the life of the party at one point, you know.” 

She looked even more embarrassed at that, her cheeks turning brighter red. “Well, when _ I _get nervous, I just figure that if I play it off, it’s like I’m not nervous. I have a pretty good head on my shoulders too, you know- intuition and all,” she pointed to her head again. “But with big gatherings like that, I guess I just figure it’s no fun if I’m just standing around being awkward. So I get sort of...carried away…” she glanced back up at him. “I didn’t do anything too embarrassing, right?”

He smiled lightly. “Well, sort of, but all of your embarrassing things are still cooler than all of the cool things I can do, so…”

She laughed softly. “You’re too hard on yourself all the time. That party would’ve been unbearable if it wasn’t for you. Even through all that weird stuff and me acting dumb, you looked out for me and made me laugh. That’s why I really like you.”

He had managed to cool down from before, but at that moment, he thought he might set the room on fire.

“Oh relax,” she said at his wide-eyed expression, though she herself didn’t look quite as relaxed she would’ve like to, either. “Like you as a _ friend _, I mean- we’ve never hung out outside of school before, so I was really excited when you invited me out, even if it was just so you wouldn’t be stuck alone at that creepy mansion.” She looked away for a moment again, then looked back at him directly. “Relax.” She grumbled. “You’re cute and all, but I’m not swayed that easily.”

He swallowed thickly. “I, uh...thanks then.” It was his turn to look away now. “I’m sorry, if I made it seem like I only invited you for that.” He rubbed his arm. “I mean, Soren told me to invite you, and I guess I was nervous that...you would think it was weird that we were hanging out. But, I really enjoyed myself. Like I said, I don’t go out a ton…” Rayla scoffed at this. “But, I can’t imagine I’d have this much fun with anyone else tonight.” 

And it was true- he _ did _have fun. He got solicited by a debatable cult leader in his terrifying hidden dungeon office room and he still managed to laugh when it was happening, and it was only because of her. Even with her constant wandering off and having to run after her, he couldn’t help but laugh, and he realized it was the exact same way he felt whenever they had to sit through another boring lecture from Mr. Viren, or eat their gross cafeteria food, or worry about midterms and everything in between- they could say anything to each other, and it would make the day that much better. 

So yes, this was the stupidest night of Callum’s life, but he was grateful. He was grateful for anything that could bring them closer, really.

The room was silent after that, and Callum thought that maybe Rayla had fallen back asleep. “I really like you too.” He said, cutting through the silence. His heart was pounding, but he figured it better to ride was this sudden wave of braveness. “And...I think you’re really pretty…” he trailed off, his face practically steaming. _ Maybe don’t ride it that hard. _

The room stayed still, so Callum figured that yes, she was probably asleep. He stood up then, deciding this was the right time to help his dad finish setting up. His hand grabbed the door handle, but before he could leave, he heard the quietest voice he had heard from her yet.

“I’m not really drunk anymore.” She paused. “There’s a lot of stupid stuff from tonight I hope I forget. But I hope I don’t forget this part.”

He stood frozen for a moment, and he wasn’t sure why. There was something in the back of his mind, nudging at him- _ for what, exactly? _ He felt that maybe somewhere, tucked far away, there was something he could say or do, something he _ wanted _to say or do- but whatever it was, it was out of his reach, for now. Maybe one day, he would come to know immediately what that feeling meant. But for now, he smiled, and bade her goodnight. 

—-

He woke up on the living room floor the next morning, tangled in blankets and pillows and limbs- Ezran snuggled right beside him, arms clinging on to this side, and Claudia’s legs splayed out across his. He also woke up to Soren’s standing tall right over him, and yelped loud enough to shock the two awake.

“You didn’t text me, bro.” Soren stated disappointedly, holding up Rayla’s keys. “Found them right by the door once my shift was done.”

“Sorbear! How was it last night? How was dad?” Claudia whispered conspiratorially. Soren shrugged. “He was kind of chill, honestly. I didn’t really see him for a lot of the night. Callum couldn’t stop running into him though, right dude?” Callum gave a simple quirk of his brows. Ezran and Bait were busy rubbing the sleepiness out of their eyes.

Callum got up and knocked on his door softly, checking the time: 9:35 a.m. Probably too early to be bothering her, but sue him for being a little worried still. “Rayla?” A beat of silence, and a deep, long-suffering groan came in response. He stepped inside to find her head shoved under his pillow. 

“Did you wanna stay for breakfast?” The pillow lifted slightly. “What time are your parents coming to get you?” She slid her phone over to him, showing a text announcing a 10:30 a.m. arrival time. 

“I can bring you breakfast in here if you want.” Callum offered but Rayla stiffly and defiantly shot up, the pillow falling to the wayside. She looked...presentable enough. The deep, dark eye circles could be explained away with a lack of sleep. And her bed-head was cute. (He figured that was okay to think that now, _ right _?)

Rayla soon joined everyone else on the couch to eat, where Claudia promptly launched into her barrage of questions about herself that Ezran enthusiastically gave his full attention to. Callum managed to calm Claudia a bit when Rayla flashed him the most pitiful face he had ever seen in his life. At one point, Amaya walked over from the dining room table and handed Rayla a tall glass of water. 

“_ To help wake you up a bit _.” Callum translated, though Amaya’s smile stayed as knowing as it was yesterday. Corvus and Gren each handed her one of their own soon after, and Rayla flushed deeper and deeper the entire time throughout. 

Callum was afraid Rayla might have to endure another intense Q&A session, this time from his father and friends, but mercifully, a knock came at the front door. Callum answered the door to two handsome men in nursing scrubs, one looking quite refreshed for having worked all night, the other not as much.

“You must be Callum.” He nodded. “Wonderful, thank you so much for looking after Rayla. I hope it wasn’t too much trouble.” Callum thought he might have heard the man next to him scoff quietly, but his partner sent a quick, pointed look that he seemed to begrudgingly respect. Harrow came quickly after with the rest in tow, offering friendly handshakes and greetings- Runaan and Ethari were their names apparently.

From behind, slowly, Rayla emerged. This entire morning was a montage of sides of Rayla Callum had never seen before- disheveled, defeated, and now plain and simple _ guilty _\- she came to the front door like a dead man walking. 

Ethari smiled warmly. “I’m sure you’ve learned enough of a lesson at this point.” He said, patting Rayla’s hair. She hung her head dramatically with a tiny whine. 

“There might still be a little left to learn.” Runaan said sternly, but with a softness in his eyes as he placed a fond hand on her shoulder. He looked directly at Callum and Harrow. “Thank you very much for all your family has done. My husband and I are very grateful, and I hope that one day, we could perhaps meet again in...better circumstances.” He finished as Rayla basically shoved her face into his side, exhausted. 

“Of course!” Harrow responded. “With what good friends our kids are, I’m sure we’ll be seeing much more of each other.” 

There was something about his dad’s tone and the bright smiles on everyone’s faces that made Callum blush- they didn’t know that Callum wasn’t even entirely sure if he and Rayla would even see each other outside of school after this. Not out of _ not _wanting to, but there was a pressing question in the back of his head now. 

Did Rayla even remember their conversation from last night? He couldn’t fault her if she didn’t- if anything, she was probably annoyed by him yapping his feelings away while she was nearly passed out and just let the entire thing slip from her, along with all of the other things she wanted to forget. But the idea that she might _ not _remember left a heavy feeling in his throat he couldn’t swallow down.

“Absolutely.” Ethari said genuinely. They both waved over at Ezran, Claudia, and Soren in the back and turned to leave, guiding Rayla’s flimsy, staggering steps. Harrow and everyone else waved after them and returned back into the house, ready to start cleaning up. 

For whatever reason, Callum lingered a minute longer. The three of them reached the car parked out in front and at that moment, Rayla looked back, catching his gaze. His breath caught, and she smiled brightly, as though she weren’t hungover at all. She gave a small wave and before he could react, she was in the car and gone.

“She seems nice!” Callum flinched. “How long were you standing there for?” Ezran shrugged. “Not long enough for you to worry about. You should invite her over for real next time.” 

Callum glanced away, embarrassed at being caught off guard. “Yeah, maybe.” He said, coming back inside the house with his brother. Before he went off to help his dad and everyone clean up, he let out the tiny, relieved smile he was holding in.

—-

**Ezran (11:40 a.m.): **I’m too lazy to get up right now but just so you know, you dropped something earlier!

**Ezran (11:41 a.m.): **You got a business card from someone named “Aaravos”? Did you meet a wizard last night or something?

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I apologize for saying last chapter this would probably end with two more chapters and that not being the case...this is definitely the longest one at a little over 5k words, but I felt like it’d be a little pointless to split them into two, and I didn’t feel there was really a natural place to do. My initial prediction of six chapters was right all along!
> 
> Thank you everyone who read this little fic. Truthfully, writing doesn’t come very naturally to me (I’m more of a comics girl lol), and this was almost embarrassingly silly and self-indulgent but this was atill a lot of fun to write in my free time between my studies and I really enjoyed it! I feel I want to try and develop this craft more, which feels nice. Thank you all again! ❤️


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